The 2025/26 low season has formally begun.
Requested about including beginning pitching, Ross Atkins says the free agent class appears “somewhat bit higher” than standard & says the Blue Jays have already begun some commerce talks about beginning pitching.
It seems there are two ace-calibre beginning pitchers who might grow to be obtainable on the commerce market, Tarik Skubal and Freddy Peralta. Satirically, each gamers pitched within the postseason, with the Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers, respectively.
Skubal, a left-handed pitcher, is about to win his second consecutive American League Cy Younger award, as he completed the season with a 2.21 ERA and a couple of.45 FIP in 195.1 innings pitched, placing out 32.2% of batters whereas strolling 4.4% of batters. Skubal will grow to be a free agent after the 2026 season, and it looks like he and the Tigers are far aside in contract talks.
Peralta isn’t nearly as good as Skubal, however the right-handed pitcher can be an enormous enhance to the Blue Jays’ lineup. Final season with the Brewers, the 29-year-old completed with a 2.70 ERA and three.64 FIP in 176.2 innings pitched, with a 28.2 Ok% and 9.1 BB%. Like Skubal, Peralta is coming into the ultimate yr of his contract and makes simply $8 million, far lower than Skubal’s $22.5 million wage.
Bo Bichette
“We will likely be in his market.”
Ross Atkins on Bo Bichette.
All through his profession, Bichette has said that he needs to play with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for his profession and that he needs to win; the latter was practically achieved firstly of this month.
Bichette is coming off one in all his finest seasons within the massive leagues, as he slashed .311/.357/.483 with 18 house runs in 628 plate appearances for a career-high 134 wRC+. He additionally confirmed he was able to enjoying second base through the World Sequence.
John Schneider
Schneider was nominated for the American League Supervisor of the 12 months award, because the Jays went from a 74-88 document in 2024 to a 94-68 document in 2025. They completed with one of the best document within the AL and the third-best document in Main League Baseball, whereas additionally profitable the American League pennant for the primary time since 1993.
Over elements of 4 seasons on the helm of the Blue Jays, the life-long Blue Jay has a 303-257 document for a .541 win share. His 303 wins have him fourth all-time for Blue Jays’ managers, behind Boddy Cox’s 355, John Gibbons’ 793, and Cito Gaston’s 894 wins.
José Berríos
José Berríos missed everything of the Blue Jays’ postseason run as he was positioned on the Injured Listing on account of elbow irritation. Throughout Atkins’ press convention, he famous that the right-handed pitcher could have a traditional low season and will likely be prepared by the start of Spring Coaching.
Ross Atkins says Jose Berrios “ought to have a totally regular low season and be prepared for spring coaching.” Berrios handled elbow irritation at finish of the season.
It was a tough season for the 31-year-old, as Berríos completed with a 4.17 ERA and 4.65 FIP in 166 innings pitched. For the primary time since 2017, he missed a begin, as he pitched a recreation out of the bullpen earlier than touchdown on the Injured Listing.’
Berríos could possibly be coming into the final season of his contract, as he has an opt-out after the 2026 season. He’ll earn $19 million in 2025, with two extra seasons on his contract if he doesn’t choose out.
Jeff Hoffman
Lastly, Atkins was requested about Jeff Hoffman and famous that “[Hoffman] isn’t married to the nearer position, and he’s open to something that makes the Blue Jays higher.”
Ross Atkins, when requested if Jeff Hoffman can be the #BlueJays’ nearer subsequent season:
“The beauty of Jeff is he’s not married to that … I believe he can be open to something that makes us higher.”
That stated, buying a more in-depth and pushing Hoffman to a setup position signifies that the Blue Jays’ bullpen is a powerful level. We’ll see what occurs right here.
