Yesterday market the beginning of free agency. Keegan Matheson of MLB.com has a roundup of the Jays’ roster moves, most notably declining Myles Straw’s $8m team option. He’ll instead receive a $1.75m buyout, financed by the Guardians as part of the trade that originally brought him to Toronto. Straw fills a useful role as an elite outfield defender and base runner in spite of his aenemic offensive output, and is really well liked in the clubhouse by all accounts. The team may well have interest in a reunion as free agency progresses, but guaranteeing $8 million was too steep. The team was looking at filling several vacancies with only $16m under the old luxury tax, and by the time the expected lockout is over that space may be even more constrained and/or more valuable with increasing penalties.
Yesterday also marked the switch from in-season to off-season roster rules, meaning players on the 60-day IL had to be reinstated to the 40-man roster. For Toronto, that included José Berríos, Jake Bloss, Bowden Francis, and Cody Ponce (no wonder the rotation struggled), as well as Anthony Santander, Addison Barger, and Jonatan Clase. CJ Van Eyk, optioned a few days ago, cleared waivers and was assigned to Buffalo, clearing a roster spot. At the end of all the shuffling, the 40-man roster stands at 37.
Those three spots, and maybe a couple more, will be filled with prospects needing protection from the Rule 5 draft. Teams might wait to make those moves on the expectation that a lockout delays or cancels the Winter Meetings and therefore the draft, but most likely the decisions will have to be made at some point. For the Jays, this year’s breakout pitcher, Nolan Perry, will need protection. So will one of last year’s big risers in Gage Stanifer. Daniel Guerra was another big 2026 riser, although elbow issues and command had him running out of gas a bit late in the year. All three have significant upside and the stuff to succeed in a major league bullpen in 2027, and they would be somewhere between likely and certain to be taken if left unprotected.
Josh Stephan, part of the return for Adam Macko at the deadline, is less of a prospect. He posted solid strikeout and walk numbers in a full AAA season this year, though, and his plus command makes him a potentially usable depth starter. The Jays will be eager to hang onto those after this past season.
On the position player side, Josh Kasevich snuck through last year’s draft unprotected after an injury-marred 2025. He was just average offensively this season in Buffalo, but he stayed healthy and his blend of versatile defence and top tier contact might make him a good candidate to stick as a utility man on someone’s roster. He’s the only bat I think is likely to be protected, but a couple others have a case. Nick Goodwin and Jay Harry also fit that bill, as guys with some offensive tools who can play somewhere on the dirt, but they’re more lightly regarded prospects with shorter upper minors track records and so might be the kind of guys the Jays are willing to allow to sneak through.
On the cutting side, third catcher Shawn Ross and relievers like Chase Lee, John Klein, and Brendan Cellucci could be cut and either signed back or replaced with basically similar guys without much worry. Most of the team’s arbitration eligible players look certain to be kept, although they’ll probably at least have a meeting about whether Josh Smith is worth an estimated $3.9 million with other corner infield bats on the team. I expect they’ll tender Ernie Clement as well, although his second half collapse and sudden defensive woes at age 30 are concerning enough to at least raise the question. All of which is to say, they should be able to protect everyone they really need to and create room for a free agent or two without cutting into the meat of the roster.
In more fun news, Dylan Cease is a Cy Young finalist. 2026 was, inning for inning, the best year of his career. He posted a 2.40 ERA on the strength of a monster 35% strikeout rate. Cease has been here before, finishing second to Justin Verlander in 2o22 and fourth in 2024. He’ll probably find himself the runner up again this year. Cam Schlittler posted nearly identically strong peripheral stats, but an ERA 0.45 runs lower over four more starts and 24.2 more innings. That takes nothing away from a great start to the Jays’ biggest ever free agent signing’s time in Canada, though.
Louis Varland is also a finalist for the AL Reliever of the Year Award. The BBWAA will vote on the award for the first time this year, as they do for other major awards, after MLB had simply selected the winner in past years. He ought to walk away with it, as his 1.27 ERA and 3.1 WAR both lead the league by significant margins (among pitchers with 45 or more innings). The BBWAA is the BBWAA, though, and Cleveland’s Cade Smith might take it on the strength of six more saves and 10 more strikeouts. It’d be nice to have one Jay win a major award in this mostly grim season, and Louis would richly deserve it. Results will be announced at MLB’s awards ceremony on the 11th.
In non-Jays news, MLB has announced that the posting window for Japanese players will not be extended in the event of a lockout, as it was in 2021. That means that the players posted on Sunday, including star third baseman/right fielder and reigning Central League Triple Crown winner Teruaki Sato (who would look excellent in blue and white…) will in all likelihood need to sign deals before midnight on December 1st or be forced to stay in Japan for another year. Agents are understandably angry, as their clients will have a third less time than the usual 45 days to negotiate the best deal. For the owners, it’s yet another sign that they intend to play hardball this winter and aren’t concerned with exacerbating tensions with the union as negotiations head into the final stretch.
