For the third consecutive off-season, the Toronto Blue Jays are expected to be among the biggest players in the free-agent market.
Over the past two years, the team has fallen short in their pursuits of Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Roki Sasaki, and others, but things just might end up being different this time around.
ESPN’s Buster Olney joined First Up on TSN 1050 on Tuesday morning to discuss how the perception around the Blue Jays have changed following their run to the World Series, and which free agents he sees Ross Atkins and company making a play for this winter.
“The assumption was, always, that when the Blue Jays were involved, that they were just being a stalking horse,” Olney said. “The agents were keeping them in play. That at the end, they would never be a bride, always be a bridesmaid and they wouldn’t win any of these things because players weren’t serious about going there.
“I will tell you that just in talking with agents about what’s possible for their players, all of a sudden Toronto is a serious player.”
In 2025, the Blue Jays finished atop their division for the first time in a decade, entered the postseason as the top seed in the American League, won the pennant, and gave the juggernaut Los Angeles Dodgers all they could handle in an 11-inning, Game 7 loss in the World Series.
The team’s recent success, coupled with a willingness to spend and a long-term extension for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. this past April, has gone a long way in setting up Toronto to be one of the top free-agent destinations this off-season.
“This whole thing about ‘Well, I don’t want to play in Toronto because I have to cross the border and go through customs’, it feels like it’s out the window. Now people are watching this team with Vladdy, and how hard they played, and the culture. According to the agents I’m speaking with, it’s like, ‘Yeah, I’ll go there. I love that.’
“I’ve never heard anything like this really since I’ve first started covering in the mid-90’s. For years, when I talked to agents it was, ‘Yeah we’ll talk to Toronto, but my guy doesn’t really want to play there,” off the record. It is completely different right now.”
With their well-documented struggles in getting free agents to join their organization, this off-season the Blue Jays will be tasked with trying to keep one of their own players north of the border.
Bo Bichette is among the top hitters available on the market this winter, and despite the slugging shortstop stating that he wants to remain with the team, Olney believes the Blue Jays will have their work cut out for them in trying to sign the 27-year-old.
“If they are going to keep him, they’re going to have to pay for him,” he said of Bichette’s impeding free agency. “There’s going to be some competition….he’s a great hitter and there’s just not a lot of great hitters.”
Bichette slashed .311/.357/.483 with 18 home runs and a team-high 94 RBI in 2025 before a knee injury sustained on Sept. 6 sidelined him for the remainder of the regular season.
The two-time All-Star was on pace to lead the league in both hits (181) and doubles (44) before getting hurt, but made his return to the lineup for Game 1 of the World Series following a seven-week absence.
In 23 at-bats in the Fall Classic, Bichette hit .348 with a home run and six RBI while manning second base for the first time in his big-league career.
Olney lists the Detroit Tigers and Toronto’s AL East rival Boston Red Sox as expected suitors, but even more teams could be in play for Bichette after he showcased his ability to play second base.
The Orlando native recorded a -13 outs above average (first percentile) and a -10 fielding run value (fourth percentile) as Toronto’s everyday shortstop this season, but a willingness to move off of the position could add even more teams to his free-agent sweepstakes.
“I think the fact that he’s an elite offensive player means that he’s going to get a lot of offers, and we’re going to find out just how much the Blue Jays value him. They’re going to have to pay top of the market, I think, to keep him, and how much Bo wants to stay because he’s going to have choices.”
Outside of Bichette, Toronto has also been linked to another top free agent in the class in Kyle Tucker, with Olney describing the connection between two as being “absolutely legitimate”.
The 28-year-old outfielder posted a slash line of .266/.377/.464 with the Chicago Cubs in 2025, and was among the favourites for the National League’s MVP award before a right hand fracture and left calf strain derailed the second half of his season.
This marked the second consecutive year Tucker had missed time with injury after a right shin fracture limited him to just 78 games in his last season with the Houston Astros, something that Olney feels could shrink his market.
“At the beginning of the summer, you could find executives that would say to you that after Vladdy got $500 million, he potentially could get $400 million.
“I think that the general enthusiasm about him in the market has come down. I don’t know if the [New York] Yankees are going to get involved in bidding on him, I don’t know if the Cubs are going to get involved in bidding on him, but he is highly-regarded for his skill set.”
Olney added that Toronto would be a great fit for Tucker with the team having an already-established “face of the franchise” signed long-term in Guerrero.
“When you sign an Aaron Judge…when you sign a Vladimir Guerrero Jr., you want that player to embrace all that comes with being the alpha, and Vladdy did.
“I don’t think Kyle Tucker wants to be that guy…so this would be perfect to go to Toronto and play as a teammate of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who clearly is the alpha there. I do think that’s a consideration for players.”
The Blue Jays are sure to be busy this off-season, but it still remains to be seen whether or not they can buck the trend of finishing as finalists for the top names on the market.
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