How will Blue Jays reload for 2017?
Fans about to get an idea of how much cash Rogers plans to re-invest in the team
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Fresh off a season in which the Toronto Blue Jays made a second consecutive trip to the ALCS, the team has some work to do to make it three in a row.
Over the next four days here at the baseball Winter Meetings, we’ll start to get an idea how much owner Rogers is willing to re-invest the cash generated by the 3.4 million fans who filled the dome in 2016.
With holes to fill and decisions to be made on whether aging big hitters Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista are worth pursuing, it could be an eventful week for team president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins.
Acknowledging the needs — with two outfielders, a backup catcher and some bullpen bolstering topping the list — Shapiro says the plan will be to build on recent success rather than to rebuild.
“We think the core of talent in place is still good enough to field a championship-calibre team,” Shapiro said recently at a meeting of the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers of America.
“And yes, it’s important to continue to work hard to deliver on the promise that has been fulfilled over the last couple of seasons.”
After the signing last month of Kendrys Morales as the new designated hitter, the urgency to retain Encarnacion changed — although it’s best not to write off that possibility just yet.
With both Bautista and Canadian-born Michael Saunders free agents, Atkins will need to focus on both corners of the outfield.
Dexter Fowler is certain to generate some interest from Atkins, but he may have to get in line with a host of other GMs eager to enlist the free agent’s services. Fowler, a switch-hitter, has been linked to the Jays in the past and would be a defensive improvement over Saunders and Bautista.
The Jays have also reportedly been making a push for Jay Bruce, who is heading into the last season of a seven-year, US$63 million deal with the New York Mets.
Without an addition via trade or free agency, the Jays would be left with Ezequiel Carrera and Melvin Upton, Jr. in the opening day lineup.
Given the exit of Brett Cecil last month, the priority for enhancing the bullpen would likely be to add a left-handed arm.
The issue becomes how much money parent company Rogers has empowered Shapiro and Atkins to spend. Shapiro said the payroll will be higher than the US$140 million payroll in 2016, but he hasn’t indicated by how much.
Signing Morales to a three-year, US$33 million deal was a cheaper alternative to retaining Encarnacion, albeit with some offensive downside.
Was it a prudent move by management to free up options to spend elsewhere?
Or was it a sign that too much of the baseball-related revenue increases of last season will be retained by Rogers?
With the baseball world gathered here at a resort conference centre just south of the U.S. capital, we’re about to find out.