LAS VEGAS — The Toronto Blue Jays have yet to give strong indications of their offseason priorities, a league source said, except for one area.
The Jays, sources told The Athletic, are in search of a high-leverage reliever. The Blue Jays haven’t often paid up for top relievers during the decade-long Toronto tenure of Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro. But for a team that suffered a crushing blown save in Game 7 of the World Series and hopes to compete for a title again in 2026, it may be time to make another exception.
They may not end up the high bidders for top free-agent closers like Edwin Díaz or Robert Suarez, but the Blue Jays seem positioned to add an eighth- or ninth-inning weapon this offseason.
The Jays, as they so often do, will likely monitor the markets for free agency’s top closers. But, more likely, they’ll be shopping in the same bullpen tier as the Los Angeles Dodgers (wouldn’t be the first time), for pitchers like Devin Williams, Pete Fairbanks, Phil Maton and other similar relievers.
Fairbanks has 90 career saves and Williams has 86. As Atkins noted at his end-of-year news conference, Jeff Hoffman isn’t tied to the closing job. It’s believed he’d be open to moving to the eighth inning if the Jays brought in a big-time closer or, if needed, compete for the ninth-inning job in spring. Hoffman was largely dominant in the playoffs and could still be the closer next season. But the bullpen would be menacing if he and Yimi García enter next season as primary set-up men.
The Jays finished the regular season with a 3.98 bullpen ERA, ranking 16th in the big leagues. The group was largely fine for most of the season, though the bullpen struggled mightily in August, and homer issues made Hoffman’s first year as closer tumultuous. In the postseason, Toronto relievers posted a 4.44 ERA, ranking 10th of 12 postseason teams.
Toronto entered the offseason with starting pitching as the most obvious need, with Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt entering free agency. Relief help wasn’t an obvious requirement, with Hoffman, García and Louis Varland returning for 2026. The Jays have more than eight established big-league relief options under team control, and some young pitchers like Ricky Tiedemann, coming back from Tommy John surgery, could move to the bullpen, too.
The Jays have plenty of depth in the bullpen. If anything, it could be an area they trade from. But multiple sources said that Toronto appears positioned to enhance the relief group with a late-game addition. The floor is high, but another leverage reliever would raise the ceiling.
A big relief addition would be seemingly uncharacteristic for this Blue Jays front office, especially if it was a significant multiyear deal. But the Hoffman signing was uncharacteristic last winter, and yet they still inked him to a three-year deal worth more than $30 million.
As Atkins said Wednesday, the “competitive window matters” when you’re discussing big relief additions. The Jays’ competitive window is wide open. If there was time to add another big reliever, it’s now.
The Athletic’s Will Sammon contributed to this story