Atkins is flexible and yet firm
The word that keeps getting used to describe the Blue Jays’ off-season is flexibility.
Flexibility to upgrade the roster through trades and free agency. Flexibility either to make significant additions this winter or to wait another year while finding short-term fixes and giving the young core more time to grow.
The primary goal is to improve the starting rotation and there are almost countless ways it can be achieved. Toronto could opt to spend money on a big-name pitcher, or it could make some difficult decisions about which members of the rebuild to trade away to fill an area of need.
That’s why the reports leaked out of last week’s general manager’s meetings in Arizona seemed so scattered. One day there was talk about taking a run at then-free agent Jake Odorizzi. The next it was about potentially dealing Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Later, the catching duo of Danny Jansen and Reese McGuire made headlines.
It might seem like the offseason approach by general manager Ross Atkins and his front office is lacking direction. It’s not. The desire to add pitching remains as strong as it ever was. But that doesn’t mean it will be easy; almost every team is trying to accomplish the same thing.
Every possible scenario must be explored. If Toronto strikes out on a free-agent pitcher, there needs to be a backup plan in place for a trade. If a team is willing to make a big offer for Gurriel or Jansen, perhaps there will come a time whenflezi it makes sense to add pitching that way and spend money through free agency on their replacements.
The Blue Jays currently have an estimated 2020 payroll of just $66 million (U.S.), including arbitration and prearbitration player projections. In 2021, the guaranteed salaries are less than $20 million. Add in a deep farm system and the front office has the potential to be as creative as it wants to be this winter, outside of the Gerrit Coles and Stephen Strasburgs of the world.
“We have financial flexibility, and we have a very good farm system that we could potentially trade from, if we needed to,” Atkins said. “We also have a lot of young talented players. Some are realizing their potential, some aren’t, and some have great development opportunities ahead of them.
“The bulk of that flexibility comes from within: having the financial flexibility, having some roster flexibility and having a good farm system. We’re obviously not where we need to be yet with the wins and losses, but it’s a very good position to be in.”
Everybody knows Toronto needs pitching. There is legitimate depth at the back end of the rotation with a slew of young options to pick from: Ryan Borucki, Trent Thornton, Anthony Kay, T.J. Zeuch, Jacob Waguespack and, eventually, top prospect Nate Pearson among them. But the organization lacks certainty up front and mid-to-upper-tier talent must be identified for this team to take the next step. That will be addressed this winter.
The position player side is more complicated and there have been plenty of debates about when to cut the cord on some of the younger talent. For example, if Toronto went out and made a multi-year commitment to a first baseman, it would signal to Rowdy Tellez that he is no longer part of the plans. If the Jays acquired another outfielder, then Teoscar Hernandez, Derek Fisher and others would have to be pushed out the door.
The dilemma facing this organization centres around the timing of these decisions. Tellez has a lot of detractors and he strikes out far too much, but he has elite power and some believe he has the potential of becoming something more. Hernandez has been a nightmare in the field but there’s enough talent in the bat to suggest there could be a future breakout. At what point do the Jays say they need more reps and at what point do they need to move on?
These are the topics the Jays have been debating internally for the last several weeks as they try to map out the offseason. A lot of options are in play and it’s rare that one path ever gets unanimous consent. Complicated answers for complicated questions.
“One of our biggest challenges is that, often times, the hardest thing to do in sports is to be patient,” Atkins said. “We have some young players that have not realized their full potential yet. Whether that’s Brandon Drury, Billy McKinney, Derek Fisher, Teoscar Hernandez, there’s a group of guys we feel are going to continue to get better and be good major-league talent for some time to come.
“There’s a lot of upside to our roster and being patient, we feel, will really pay off in the end. That’s the one thing that limits some of the flexibility that is being talked about. But the financial flexibility and the talent to potentially trade with, is a very good situation to be in.”
Atkins wants to make clear his team doesn’t lack conviction. There are a lot of roads to choose from, but almost all of them lead to pitching.
“We will add, significantly,” Atkins said. “Obviously, there are plenty of opportunities on the pitching side … We’ve got a great foundation for guys to continue improving and getting better, and at some point, making significant impacts on our major-league team. But we’re going to add majorleague pitching that will help our guys develop and ensure that their timelines are appropriate.”