What Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins’ recent comments tell us about their offseason plans

After yet another too-early end to their season, the Blue Jays are approaching another offseason with a laser focus to improve and reach their ultimate goal of winning a World Series.

To that end, the Blue Jays will emphasize adding to their lineup this season, having to replace at least four position players who have hit free agency. Offence — or a lack thereof — was Toronto’s issue during the 2023 season, as they struggled to convert hits into runs consistently. Their pitching remains in good shape heading into 2024, but this winter, the Blue Jays will look to augment their lineup, while also not taking away from a defence that ranked as the best in the majors.

“We’re in such a strong position, albeit, we’ve got to get better,” Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said while at the GM meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz., this week. “This is not good enough where we are. But relative to the industry, our position player group is still very strong. So complementing, even with a lighter free-agent market, we’re confident we will be able to do without compromising our defence.”

Let’s look at what else Atkins touched on during his recent comments.

What changed — and didn’t — about the major-league coaching staff

The Blue Jays made changes to their coaching staff — but perhaps more telling are the changes they did not make.

Following the disappointing end of the 2023 season, the club was looking closely at both their personnel and internal processes to figure out why the offence, in particular, was so underwhelming and contributed to their early playoff exit. Given that, it felt like hitting strategist Dave Hudgens and hitting coach Guillermo Martinez would be under the most scrutiny. But the club elected to retain Martinez as hitting coach, while Hudgens has been reassigned to a hybrid role working out of the player development complex in Dunedin, Fla.

Don Mattingly will have an expanded role with the offence, provided he isn’t hired to manage another team. (G Fiume / Getty Images)

Meanwhile, bench coach Don Mattingly will have an expanded role next season as offensive coordinator, where he’ll take on daily responsibilities of distilling information and delivering it to hitters in a digestible and individualized way.

“We know his passion, knowledge and framework for delivering that type of information. He’s exceptionally passionate about stepping into that role so I think that in itself is a huge step for us and something we’re excited about,” said Atkins, who added the club is aware of external interest in Mattingly for open manager positions and they wouldn’t stand in his way if he wanted to pursue that.

As for keeping Martinez on staff, Atkins said his body of work, leading one of the best offences in three of the five seasons since he joined the staff in 2019, factored into their decision. In other words, the Blue Jays are signalling their faith in Martinez and a belief that no one else out there is better suited for the gig. But certainly one would expect Martinez — and the hitting department — to be under the microscope in 2024 to show that 2023 was an outlier and that the team can have an effective offensive approach.

“We’re going to lean into some of the strengths that we have had, one of which is Guillermo Martinez, and figure out the right way for him to make the biggest impact with the leadership of Don Mattingly,” the Blue Jays GM said.

The team has also hired Carlos Febles to be their new third base coach and oversee the infield defence following the retirement of Luis Rivera. Febles was most recently the third base coach for the Boston Red Sox, where he spent 17 years as a coach in the organization.

In addition, Adam Yudelman, who spent the last two seasons as a coach, will be transitioning back to a baseball operations job, while mental performance coach Jimmy VanOstrand is leaving his position for personal reasons.

What’s on their offseason wish list

The Blue Jays have four position players who are currently free agents — Matt Chapman, Whit Merrifield, Brandon Belt and Kevin Kiermaier — so there is work to be done to rebuild their lineup. As such, Atkins said the club is targeting adding between one to four position players this offseason. As usual, the club is prepared to add either via free agency or trades.

As for positions of interest, on paper, the Blue Jays could seek a second baseman, a third baseman, a corner outfielder and a designated hitter. Though, as usual, they can be flexible in their pursuits partly because of their malleable roster of players like Cavan Biggio, Davis Schneider and Santiago Espinal, who can move to multiple positions.

While it’s a thin position player market after top names Shohei Ohtani and Cody Bellinger — both of whom the Blue Jays will surely show interest in — Atkins said he sees ways to supplement their core.

“It starts with having a really good foundation,” Atkins said. “We talk a lot about this young core that’s been in place for several years now and has had a lot of in-season success in getting to the playoffs. We need to figure out a way to take that next step. And I think these potential acquisitions, we’re excited about the chances to do so.”

As for what they’re looking for, Atkins said it’s about diversifying their offence so they have a variety of different hitters — including right- and left-handed as well as power and contact bats.

Looking at potential fits, infielders Jeimer Candelario or Justin Turner could be replacements at third base, should Chapman not return. Bellinger is the best outfielder available, but there are options like Hunter Renfroe, Lee Jung-hoo, Tommy Pham or old friends Teoscar Hernández or Lourdes Gurriel Jr. At DH, J.D. Martinez or Joey Votto could bring an added veteran presence to the lineup.

Alek Manoah and the state of starting pitching

The Blue Jays’ strength last season was their pitching staff, which ranked second in the American League in ERA. They’re in a position to essentially run it back with the majority of the same group in 2024.

Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi are all slated to return to Toronto’s starting rotation next year. That leaves one opening and Atkins confirmed Manoah will be in a good position to earn that job come next spring despite his disappointing 2023 campaign where he had a 5.87 ERA in 19 starts.

Manoah began the season as the opening-day starter but by June, after two months of struggles, he was optioned to the Florida Complex League to work through command and mechanical issues. He returned to the big leagues in July but never truly regained peak form and ultimately lost his rotation spot to Hyun Jin Ryu, who returned from the IL in August.

GO DEEPER

Alek Manoah unlikely to pitch again at any level this season

However, the 25-year-old right-hander will have a chance to be in the rotation next season and has earned “the right to have a strong leg up” in the fifth starter competition, Atkins said.

“I feel so good about him returning back to the 2021-22 version of himself,” the GM added.

After Manoah, the Blue Jays’ upper-level starting depth includes Bowden Francis, who impressed in his stints in 2023, and Mitch White, who was placed back on the 40-man roster this week after a promising finish with Triple-A Buffalo despite an overall disappointing year. Top prospect Ricky Tiedemann battled injuries throughout 2023 but just completed an encouraging stint in the Arizona Fall League. He’ll get a serious look for a rotation job next spring, even if it’s more likely the 20-year-old lefty begins the year in Triple A.

The Blue Jays appear open to exploring the starting pitching market, though it’s not likely to be a priority with so many position player needs. The Blue Jays don’t need a front-line starter but they could at least invest in depth to protect themselves against injury — which they, fortunately, experienced little of in 2023 — and potential underperformance, especially with uncertainly around Manoah’s performance.

With a lot of teams looking for starting pitching this winter, it’ll be a competitive market and Atkins said he expects to receive calls on their own upper-level starting depth.

“(We) don’t by any means want to remove from that depth, because you have it today and sometimes tomorrow happens,” Atkins said. “But I’m sure that we’re going to have a lot of teams interested in our pitching depth.”

Other notes

• The Blue Jays extended the $20.325 million qualifying offer to Chapman. Should he reject it, which is expected, Atkins said the club is still interested in discussing a long-term deal with the third baseman. Atkins has had dialogue with both Chapman and his agent, Scott Boras, and said, “our engagement has been great.”

Before the end of the season, Chapman said he was “definitely open to coming back” and praised the organization for how they take care of players.

“They really care about (the) players, and there’s nothing that they wouldn’t do for you. So I have a lot of respect for everybody in this organization,” Chapman said.

• Another potential fit is Votto, who had his $20 million club option declined by the Cincinnati Reds, making him a free agent. The 40-year-old is coming off a season where he missed significant time due to injury and hit .202 with 14 homers and 38 RBIs in 65 games. Asked about Votto, Atkins praised the first baseman as an “incredible player” with a “remarkable career.”

The Blue Jays have done due diligence on Votto in the past as a potential trade candidate. Because of the flexibility of the universal DH, Atkins surmised that “all contending teams would have some interest in him,” but he mentioned the special impact Votto would have if he joined the Blue Jays as a Toronto native. “Just (a) massive impact in the community if he were to be a Toronto Blue Jay, so definitely something that we would have to consider if that was something he wanted to pursue,” the GM said.

— Tim Britton contributed to this report

(Top photo of Atkins at the GM Meetings in Scottsdale: Matt York / Associated Press)