Toronto Blue Jays looking to make some splashy moves for 2021

The Toronto Blue Jays are looking to make some splashy moves to catapult them into contention, eyeing J.T. Realmuto, George Springer, and Francisco Lindor.

The Toronto Blue Jays are done waiting around to be competitive in the AL East. After getting a taste of the expanded postseason, they’re looking to make some drastic changes to their lineup. Changes that are gonna cost big money in the off-season where nearly every team is penny-pinching.

According to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca, the Blue Jays are strong candidates for J.T. Realmuto, George Springer and Francisco Lindor.

Realmuto address the most pressing need of the three, stability at the catcher position. Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk currently hold the position but neither one of them screams “I’m your every day starter” the way Realmuto does. Kirk was a lot of fun to root for in 2020 but he only actually has 24 at bats under his belt. Jansen quite simply isn’t very good at the plate. So signing Realmuto this off-season would give the Blue Jays their every day catcher for as long as his knees hold up and a defensively solid, middle of the order bat.

What Realmuto doesn’t solve for the Blue Jays, however, is how to mix lefty bats into the lineup. There are a lot of tough right-handed pitchers in the AL East. Between Gerrit Cole, Nathan Eovaldi and the Rays bullpen, righty batters don’t get a lot of comfortable at bats. So adding Realmuto may solve one problem but another one still exists.

And that brings us to Francisco Lindor. Now on the surface, you wouldn’t expect the Blue Jays to be such heavy contenders for Lindor’s services. I mean they already have Bo Bichette holding down the shortstop position and he’s a budding star in the league. Why would they be interested in bringing in another shortstop?

Well Francisco Lindor is no ordinary shortstop. He’s one of the best players in the game and one of the few that could actually move Bichette to another position. He would bring balance to the lineup, postseason experience to the locker room, and the air of legitimacy to the city of Toronto.

The market for Lindor is tough, however. The New York Mets and new owner Steve Cohen are heavily rumored to be involved. Cohen is looking to make a splash in his first season and his essentially limitless resources all but guarantee the Mets can extend Lindor once they acquire him.

For the Toronto Blue Jays to compete with that kind of rival, they need to know exactly what it will take to lock Lindor up long-term. And at the very least, they need a strong indicator that Lindor would be willing to sign an extension before the season even started. The Los Angeles Dodgers got it done with Mookie Betts in 2020, but Toronto and the Blue Jays aren’t exactly Los Angeles and the Dodgers. The worst thing that the Blue Jays can do is acquire Lindor and then lose him immediately after the season to free agency.

Lastly, George Springer. I don’t really see Springer with the Blue Jays. So far, all indicators have been that the Mets want him badly. And again, Cohen has the kind of limitless resources that can make a strong push for Springer despite a bad revenue year due to Covid-19. The outfield simply isn’t that desperate of a need for the Blue Jays yet.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Randal Grichuk and Teoscar Hernandez were all above average hitters in 2020. Springer isn’t a huge upgrade defensively over Grichuk in centerfield. And like Realmuto, he doesn’t really solve the “too many righties” problem. Don’t get me wrong, he’d be a great addition to the team and is an upgrade over any one of the previously mentioned outfielders. It’s just not where the Blue Jays should be focusing their resources right now.

The Toronto Blue Jays should be primarily focused on Realmuto, rounding out the pitching staff and adding to the bullpen. Lindor and Springer would be huge additions, but they’re not absolute needs yet.