The Toronto Blue Jays are in complete go-for-it mode. After last year's addition of ace Hyun-Jin Ryu helped the club earn its first playoff berth since 2016 – and celebrate it in Sahlen Field – the Jays are looking for more major moves.
With MLB's annual Winter Meetings starting virtually on Monday, the Blue Jays are getting linked to every key name on the market. Houston center fielder George Springer is reportedly their No. 1 priority in free agency, but the Jays have been checking in on big-ticket items such as Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu, Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto and Astros outfielder Michael Brantley. There's talk about Cincinnati ace and National League Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer, or a foray to grab a top-flight pitcher coming from Japan.
There's even chatter that the Bisons' parent club would be willing to revamp its young infield if it were able to pull off the coup of a trade with the Cleveland Indians for star shortstop Francisco Lindor.
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"It doesn't take much at this point for a deal to happen," General Manager Ross Atkins said Wednesday on a video call with the Baseball Writers Association of America Toronto chapter, which includes The Buffalo News. "I don't know if it's days or a week or two if things start to pick up for the Toronto Blue Jays, but we're prepared. ... We feel we're in good position to make the team better on both sides of the ball."
But while Atkins tries to keep the heat on the Yankees and Tampa Bay in the American League East, he still can't answer the question of where his team will play its 2021 home schedule.
The final out came at 5:59 p.m. Sunday. Now we wait to see when Sahlen Field will again come back to life.
With Covid-19 vaccines on the horizon, the Blue Jays appear to have legitimate hope of being in Toronto at some point next season. It's far less certain they could be in Rogers Centre for their April 8 home opener against the Los Angeles Angels.
"I'm still super optimistic that we will be playing in Toronto," Atkins said. "When I think about it, I think about how meaningful that will be for our players that haven't had the chance. ... I can't wait for that and I'm optimistic that it's coming soon. It's just hard to say when that day will be."
From this view, the likely scenario is the Jays starting their season at their spring training home in Dunedin, Fla. While the first game in Toronto since 2019 will be a huge event, just imagine if it turned out to be on July 1, Canada Day. Talk about emotion. And what about Buffalo?
Atkins said simply, "No new developments," when pressed Wednesday about the home park issue. While the Jays would likely investigate another MLB park rather than retrofit Sahlen Field again, they haven't rejected that possibility either. When the Bisons tweeted a picture of the first snow at the ballpark on Tuesday, it was notable that the Blue Jays' branding on the dugout roofs and scoreboard remain and so do the Canadian-branded ads on the outfield walls. All the signage outside the park shows the Toronto branding, too. Just in case.
First #snowday of the season at Sahlen Field! 😍❄️ pic.twitter.com/pS32ULMv5E
— Buffalo Bisons🦬 (@BuffaloBisons) December 1, 2020
The Toronto Raptors are taking their NBA season to Tampa after the Canadian government nixed their bid to play at home, just as it did with the Jays in July. Still, most MLB players figure the Blue Jays will be in Toronto at some point in '21, so Atkins said it hasn't been a worry for the club in free agency. Lefty Robbie Ray, who re-signed with the Jays last month after being acquired at the trade deadline, said his experience with the team in Buffalo was so good that the issue of a home site was well down his list of concerns.
"We haven't felt any strong concerns from anyone as we talked about it," Atkins said. "As I reflect on that, it has a lot to do with the nature of professional athletes. They want to know they have the resources to compete and they want to compete and have a chance to win. We've checked those boxes even when we weren't in our stadium."
Minor Matters
The Blue Jays' upgrades to Sahlen Field were vast and the Bisons will derive long-term impact from items such as the installation of new grass in the infield and its foul territories, and brighter stadium lighting.
Atkins declined to comment on a San Francisco Chronicle report that the Jays have ceded their affiliation with Class A Lansing (Mich.) to the Oakland Athletics and decided to retain Vancouver as a Class A affiliate, along with Dunedin. Assuming the minor-league season is played, Buffalo and New Hampshire are expected to remain their top two affiliates.
Major League Baseball is reportedly closing in on announcing the 120 minor-league clubs for 2021, with four to each big-league team. Asked if the Jays are making Vancouver a priority to retain because it would be the only Canadian team in minor-league ball, Atkins said, "We factor that in for every relationship we have. We believe strongly in being loyal to people where we can, and feel strongly about relationships."
The loyalty to Buffalo and its front office was essentially what led the Jays to ultimately play here in their time of need after they followed the request of MLB and their players in exhausting every option to play in an MLB park. The Blue Jays still have to name their minor-league staffs for 2021, including a manger in Buffalo to replace the fired Ken Huckaby. In the past, contracts for their personnel have expired Dec. 31, and those announcements often wait until the new year.
Around the horn
• The Jays announced Wednesday night they have non-tendered infielder Travis Shaw, which was not a surprise, and reliever A.J. Cole, which was. Shaw, whose 10th-inning single was the game-winning hit in the Sahlen Field opener Aug. 11 against Miami, batted just .239. Cole went 3-0, 3.09 in 24 relief appearances. The Jays could use Cole's 40-man roster spot for upcoming moves, but could re-sign him at some point.
• Outfielder Teoscar Hernandez was named the Blue Jays' most valuable and most improved player in voting by the Toronto BBWAA chapter. Hernandez batted .289 and was the team leader in home runs (16), slugging (.579) and OPS (.919), while finishing second in RBIs (34). Hernandez won his first Silver Slugger Award last month, awarded to the top offensive players at each position as voted by managers and coaches. Ryu was named pitcher of the year and reliever Jordan Romano was chosen as rookie of the year.
