As the Toronto Blue Jays approach the 2016 off-season, the question isn’t whether the team will change, but just how serious their roster churn will be. With a cohort of pending free agents that includes core pieces like Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, the Blue Jays need to make some significant additions to field a competitive roster in 2017.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network joined Jeff Blair and Stephen Brunt on The Jeff Blair Show on Sportsnet 590 The Fan on Friday morning to discuss how the team’s front office will tackle the job.
“They’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said, “My message to Jays fans is don’t be surprised if there are dramatic changes.”
Due to the success of the Blue Jays and the Cleveland Indians in the playoffs, Morosi feels Toronto’s front office, which had a role in building both teams, will get a long leash when it comes to realizing their vision for the club.
“This is a front office that is somewhat validated by the fact they have their handprints on both teams that made the ALCS,” He said. “[That’s] a pretty strong mandate.”
A core component of that vision appears to be turning a farm system that currently ranks in the bottom half of the league into one that can fuel a sustainable winner.
“They really do want to have that strong farm system, which takes a lot of time to develop,” Morosi said. “It isn’t necessarily the sexiest thing to do to talk about how many prospects you’ve got at Lansing or Dunedin, but that’s the route. That’s what you’ve got to do.”
For the time being, though, the Blue Jays have holes up and down a lineup that has few sure things outside of Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki and Russell Martin.
“The canvas at the major-league level, at least from a position player standpoint, is largely blank,” Morosi said.
As a result, the Blue Jays’ off-season looks likely to involve efforts to bring on both prospect depth and veteran talent.
“I think in general it’s a two-tiered process,” Morosi said. “We’ll see how much money they have to go out there and chase some free agent bats.”