We Hit Dingers: MLB Offseason Preview

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Toronto Blue Jays

American League	East Division
89-73 4.0 GB of Division Lead	Lost in the AL Championship Series 4-1 to the Cleveland Indians
Manager: John Gibbons	GM: Ross Atkins
AAA Affiliate Buffalo Bisons	AA Affiliate New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Traded P Sean Ratcliffe to Atlanta for RP Jason Grilli
Traded RP Drew Storen to Seattle for RP Joaquin Benoit
Traded P Hansel Rodriguez to San Diego for OF Melvin Upton Jr
Traded P Jesse Chavez to the LA Dodgers for P Mike Bolsinger
Traded P Lupe Chavez to Houston for P Scott Feldman
Traded P Drew Hutchinson to Pittsburgh for C Reese McGuire, OF Harold Ramirez, and P Francisco Liriano
Traded P Colton Turner to the Chicago White Sox for C Dioner Navaro

Josh Donaldson was Toronto's best player for the second consecutive year and one of the top players in baseball once again. He didn't have quite as good of a season this year as he did last year, but was still good enough to finish fourth in MVP voting. He finished just shy of driving in 100 runs, still hit 37 home runs, and actually had the highest on-base percentage of his career. He is a serious threat in the middle of what was a very good Toronto lineup and he looks to be the future of the team's offense. With Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion possibly not being on the team in 2017, Donaldson will need to continue to be an MVP-caliber player for the Blue Jays. Their front office also needs to lock Donaldson down soon because after next season, he has just one year of arbitration left before he reaches free agency.

Failure - The Blue Jays had a $159 million payroll this season and have made costly moves over the last couple of seasons to win a World Series with this current group. They made it to the AL Champship Series this year, but lost in five games to the Cleveland Indians. They gave up a good bit of talent to bring in Donaldson and Tulowitzki, including two top 50 overall prospects. They could also be looking at an immediate future without Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, two vital bats in their lineup. They did, however, have a solid rotation develop this season, led by twenty-four year old Aaron Sanchez, who has developed into the team's future ace. Ultimately, though, they failed to make a World Series with the current group of players and I think that means that they have failed.

The Blue Jays have already signed DH/1B Kendrys Morales which, to me, means that they don't expect that they will re-sign Edwin Encarnacion, who is also a DH/1B. If neither Edwin nor Jose return to Toronto, I think that their lineup will be severely weakened and lacking in depth. They will, however, have a good pitching staff that will definitely guide the future of the franchise. They will have to add some pieces to their bullpen, which was a problem area for the team in 2016. I think that the front office should consider a short rebuild instead of adding mediocre talent this offseason to still not be as good as they were this season. They could trade Troy Tulowitzki and get rid of the majority of his $20 million contract that doesn't expire until 2021 and get a prospect or two in return. They could also get rid of Russell Martin's contract, who still has a lot of value, Melvin Upton Jr, who salvaged his career this season, and J.A. Happ to help re-tool their farm system which has been weakened greatly with the trades they have made. I think that even if they traded some of these players away and build around Donaldson, Sanchez, and Marcus Stroman, they could have more success for more years in the future and still be competitive next year.

*All stats and information come from baseball-reference.com, fangraphs.com, rosterresource.com, baseballamerica.com, and spotrac.com