Written by Aaden Lam – Sports Reporter

Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons

A disappointing end to the 2023 season after falling to the Minnesota Twins in a two-game sweep has many fans wondering: How should the Blue Jays move forward? Upon entering the previous season, the Jays had been projected to be one of the top performing teams in all of baseball. However, it has been clear that new players must be signed and the management team has to make decisions from a different perspective in order for the Jays to meet their expectations in 2024. 

A Twitter post regards Jay’s plan in the offseason. Jeff Passan of The Score MLB had posted on Twitter: “Report: Blue Jays ‘want to do something big’ this offseason.” Looking at this year’s list of free agents, fans speculating about a Shohei Ohtani signing might not be so outrageous after all. 

Simply saying that Shohei Ohtani is a  ‘good’ asset overlooks his talents on the diamond. Ohtani is the best of both worlds. He is known for his inhuman ability to be a starting pitcher and exceptional hitter at the same time. There is not a single team in the MLB who have not been pining for his recruitment . Signing Ohtani may be the deal breaker which gets the Jays from an underperforming team to a World Series contender in the following season. 

Speculation suggests that Ohtani is not the only star who has the potential to be a future Blue Jay. Rumors have arisen that Cody Bellinger of the Chicago Cubs may join the Jays. However, since he is not a free agent, the Jays would have to give up one of their best players to acquire him. So far, the best pick for the trade has been Toronto’s very own Bo Bichette. Both players have explosive bats, but Bellinger provides power from the left side, an advantage that the Jays lack at the moment. Bellinger could fill the void that Kevin Kiermaier, the Jays’ main center fielder for 2023, left in the outfield, providing much needed offense from the left side of the plate. 

Works Cited 

Today, Blue Jays. “The Blue Jays Haven’t Signed ANYONE Yet… (Here’s Why).” http://Www.youtube.com, 26 Nov. 2023, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKClVHifuo0. Accessed 27 Nov. 2023.