The place Might the Blue Jays Tuck Kyle?

No one’s having extra enjoyable this offseason than the Toronto Blue Jays, who celebrated their first pennant in 32 years (and near-miss at profitable the World Collection) by rearming and getting again into the combat. Midseason acquisition Shane Bieber re-committed for pennies on the greenback, and Toronto supplemented its rotation by touchdown the highest free agent pitcher available on the market, Dylan Stop, in addition to KBO breakout star Cody Ponce.

The Jays then kicked January off by reaching again into the worldwide market to buy third baseman Kazuma Okamoto from the Yomiuri Giants of NPB. The Jays are already as much as third in projected 2026 payroll, not less than for now; the Phillies and Yankees are fourth and fifth, and each of these golf equipment have some rounding out of the roster to do earlier than spring coaching.

Besides apparently the Jays may not be achieved both.

Within the wake of signing Okamoto, Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reported that Toronto’s pursuit of Kyle Tucker is just rising in depth. And whereas Okamoto’s arrival would appear to obviate the necessity for incumbent shortstop Bo Bichette, something is feasible.

Solely, the place would these guys even play? The Blue Jays’ run to the World Collection was difficult by accidents to Bichette and final offseason’s massive signing, Anthony Santander, which led to far more high-leverage at-bats for Myles Straw and Isiah Kiner-Falefa than supervisor John Schneider would’ve appreciated.

However even the no-Tucker, no-Bichette model of the Blue Jays lineup seems to be fairly properly stocked.

Nathan Lukes, Toronto’s common no. 2 hitter throughout this previous postseason, is nowhere to be discovered. How might this group probably discover room for one and even two famous person hitters on this lineup?

One choice, which Bannon talked about, can be to commerce Santander. The 31-year-old was Toronto’s massive free agent signing final offseason, and I used to be among the many many who raised an eyebrow on the time: A nook outfield bat who’d simply posted a career-high season of three.2 WAR, with none standout defensive or on-base skill, is hardly the type of participant I’d exit of my option to give a five-year contract.

Clearly, the Blue Jays had been underneath no illusions about how he’d age, however hoped that the 40-homer energy he’d simply demonstrated can be beneficial sufficient in 2025 and 2026 to make the decline palatable. Nicely, Santander couldn’t keep on the sphere, and when he was within the lineup, he hit .175/.271/.294. With penalties for positional adjustment, protection, and baserunning, that involves -0.9 WAR. If the Blue Jays had been the one group that thought he was value $92.5 million over 5 seasons a yr in the past, I doubt anybody else thinks Santander is value $74.5 million over 4 years, plus no matter it’d take to accumulate him. If the Blue Jays need to transfer on from Santander, the query is just not what they might get for him, however whether or not they’d be higher off together with prospects to entice a commerce associate to tackle a number of the contract, or slicing their losses and consuming the entire thing. At that time, you may as properly cling on to the man and see if he bounces again.

Assuming Santander returns, the Jays have high-profile veterans locked into 4 of the 5 best defensive positions: Springer at DH, Guerrero at first, Okamoto at third, and Santander in one of many outfield corners. Catcher isn’t actually related to a lineup puzzle that entails Bichette or Tucker, however the Jays are set there with Alejandro Kirk.

The enjoyable factor is that this: The remainder of Toronto’s returning place participant group is made up of fellows who’re some mixture of younger, low-cost, platoonable, and defensively versatile. In an effort to make the puzzle make sense, I’ve give you a useful desk.

Are you able to make these items match? Completely, should you’re keen to get artistic.

I don’t suppose anybody desires Bichette to line up at shortstop day by day going ahead, however he might play second base, with Clement and Giménez sharing the load at brief relying on the opponent and state of affairs. You may use Clement, Barger, Bichette, Santander, Schneider, Lukes, and Giménez as a five-way platoon involving three quarters of the infield and each nook outfield spots. Casey Stengel’s clawing on the within his coffin making an attempt to flee so he can come again to life and handle this group.

To be clear, the Blue Jays have had an excellent offseason even when they don’t spend one other dime. The lineup as at present constituted, along with a robust rotation, ought to make Toronto an early favourite to repeat as AL Champions.

But when the Blue Jays wished so as to add Tucker or Bichette, they’d have the ability to make it work. Consider how thrilling that might be, each for Toronto followers and for Undead Casey Stengel.