We had a little bit of news earlier in the week, but now there’s truly nothing much going on.
The major league news we have isn’t the fun kind to talk about. Anthony Santander reposted bigoted anti-Muslim videos on his Instagram, which has sparked a predictable and justified backlash. The team has issued a statement saying the comments don’t represent their views, but I don’t think that’ll put an end to the matter. Anthony Bass got himself DFA’d for sharing hateful videos on social media three years ago (in his case they were homophobic). Doing the same for Santander would be complicated. For one, he’s injured, which as The Athletic’s Keith Law notes, would lead to a union grievance if her were released. For another, he’s not a fringe reliever, he’s (notionally) a star owed $49 million over the next four seasons (assuming they buy out his 2030 club option). That puts the club in a bit of an awkward situation. There will be a lot of fans who won’t want to see him back (in addition to the ones who already didn’t for on-field performance reasons). We’ll see what happens, but personally I’d prefer not to see him in a Jays uniform again.
In thrilling procedural news, the Jays have been awarded a fourth option year on Jake Bloss’ contract. Teams typically get three options on a drafted minor league player, but can be given a fourth if the three are exhausted before the player reaches five full seasons. Bloss was just drafted in 2023, but was called up in 2024 by the Astros before being traded to Toronto. He used up his second and third options in 2025 and 2026. The additional option means that he can be sent back to Buffalo if necessary in 2027. Ideally, of course, he’ll be fully healthy for camp and make the opening day roster. The option alleviates the pressure to do so or face a DFA, though.
Speaking of Bloss, he was one of three Jays named to the Arizona Fall League’s Fall Stars roster. Bloss had shaky top line results, allowing 10 runs in 10.2 innings, but his 11:2 strikeout to walk ratio is probably more representative. He apparently sat 93-96, which is down from the increased velocity he showed working back from Tommy John rehab this summer but is in line with where he was in 2024. Hopefully a healthy winter of work brings his command all the way back and he’s ready to challenge for a rotation spot in spring training. The other Jays honoured were slugging catcher/outfielder Aaron Parker and speedy OF Jake Cook. Parker lit up AA this past season with his power, but showed concerning swing and miss. In the fall he dialed his strikeouts back to 25% and upped his walks. He also got significant reps in the outfield for the first time. Parker isn’t a great defender behind the dish, so this may be a trial to see whether he can do enough on the grass to allow him to focus on developing his more promising offensive tools. Cook, a 2025 draftee, is an extremely raw toolshed who only converted back to hitting in his junior year of college after spending his first couple seasons on the mound. He’s got genuinely elite speed and an athletic frame, but has a long ways to go to develop as a hitter. Congrats to all three Jays prospects.
Speaking of speedy outfielders, Rudy Martin jr. agreed to a minor league deal with a spring training invite. Martin, 30, got his first MLB cup of coffee with the Jays this past season. The Royals drafted him out of high school way back in 2014, and he spend years in the lower levels of their system before a few years bouncing around independent ball. He caught back on with the Royals system in 2025 before coming over to the Jays. His .274/.394/.421 slash line in Buffalo was a solid 14% above league average. More importantly, he played centre field and went 45-53 stealing bases. With Myles Straw gone, Martin moves one slot up the depth chart and could see time with the Jays in 2027 as a speed and D extra outfielder.
Finally, as free agency continues to not really get going, there were a couple of profiles of players the Jays should consider signing this winter. At MLB.com, Keegan Matheson makes the case that Seiya Suzuki is a perfect fit for the Jays. I think he’s overselling his defence, as 2026 was the first year he’d posted above average value in the field and the Cubs chose to DH him a lot of the time, but a well rounded power bat would do a lot for the roster. Whether a hundred million dollar five year deal for a player who will be 32 for most of next season makes sense is a question, but at least for the next couple of years Suzuki would fill a major need. Meanwhile, David Adler profiles another Japanese star, this one just posted this winter. Teruaki Sato will need to sign before the lockout, so he might be the only significant free agent domino that actually falls in November. He has loads of power, which would fit the Jays nicely, but he’s also a super aggressive hitter with some swing and miss. That’s lead to strikeout rates in the mid-high 20s% range in Japan, and could become a problem in the majors. Kazuma Okamoto, as a comparison, struck out about 10% less often in Japan and still had some contact issues in Toronto (although it didn’t stop him from posting a very solid overall line). He’s also not great either at third or in right field. Still, 27 year olds with monster power don’t come on the free agent market very often, and the Jays could use an infusion of youth and thump. He merits a deep dive from their international scouts to see whether they believe his approach will stand up in North America.
