We’re nearing the end of the second week of January, and yet just like last offseason, some of the top free agent targets are still waiting on their next contract. It’s been a strange trend in baseball the last two years, especially when you contrast it to the free agent frenzies of a decade or so ago.
For the Blue Jays, they’re really not factoring into the conversation on any of the major free agent pieces like Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, or significant trade targets like J.T. Realmuto. As a rebuilding team they’re just not at the stage where they’re ready to make that kind of commitment to one player, as they really don’t know where the “icing on the cake” needs to go with this roster build yet.