By The Canadian Press

Solid hits and two big misses: A look at the Jays in 2025-26 off-season

Jan 16, 2026 | 11:13 AM

TORONTO — It was a swing and a miss for the Toronto Blue Jays on two of the biggest prizes of the current Major League Baseball free agency period.

Bo Bichette, a homegrown talent and one of the faces of the franchise, has reportedly bolted for the New York Mets. That news came shortly after star outfielder Kyle Tucker reportedly agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who once again got the better of Toronto.

Missing out on both Bichette and Tucker sours what started out as a solid off-season for the American League champions. While Toronto still has a good enough team to compete for a World Series title, retaining Bichette or adding Tucker could have made the Blue Jays a favourite.

Here’s a look at who the Jays added, who they kept and who they let get away.

HITS

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Dylan Cease — The Blue Jays made most of their off-season gains in pitching, led by the signing of right-hander Cease to a seven-year, US$210-million contract in December. The 30-year-old is 65-58 with a 3.88 earned-run average and 1,231 strikeouts in 188 starts over seven big-league seasons. He went 8-12 with a 4.55 ERA in 32 starts this year for San Diego, striking out 215 and walking 71 in 168 innings. His 29.8 per cent strikeout rate was the third-highest among qualified pitchers.

Cody Ponce — The right-hander returns to MLB after a stellar year in South Korea. He went 17-1 over 29 starts with 252 strikeouts and a 1.89 ERA with the Hanwha Eagles, helping him win the MVP award in the KBO League. He is expected to bolster an already impressive rotation that includes Cease, Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber.

Tyler Rogers — The signing of the workhorse reliever to a $37 million, three-year contract may not have generated the headlines of other free-agent deals, but the right-handed Rogers is poised to be a big addition to the Jays’ bullpen. Rogers led the major leagues in 2025 with 81 pitching appearances for San Francisco and the New York Mets. He has a career 2.76 ERA and leads the majors with 403 appearances and 406 1/3 relief innings since 2020.

Kazuma Okamoto — The Japanese slugger became Toronto’s latest addition when he signed a four-year, $60-million deal on Jan. 4. He comes to MLB after an 11-year run in Japan, where he led the Nippon Professional Baseball league in home runs on three occasions. A versatile defender, he is expected to play third base for the American League champions but can also play first base and left field.

Shane Bieber — The two-time all-star and 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner was acquired by Toronto from Cleveland at the 2025 trade deadline, and he made his return from Tommy John surgery shortly after. The righty was solid with Toronto, going 4-2 with a 3.57 ERA. He was 2-1 in the post-season with a 3.86 ERA. It was a pleasant surprise when Bieber decided to pick up his $16-million player option rather than test free agency.

Avoiding Arbitration — While not a huge surprise, the Blue Jays took care of business by coming to terms with arbitration-eligible players Ernie Clement, Daulton Varsho and Tyler Heineman before this month’s deadline. Clement was a breakout star in the Jays’ run to the World Series when he set a single-playoff record with 30 hits. Left-hander Eric Lauer, who filled in admirably last season when the Jays were dealing with injuries in their starting rotation, is the lone Jay going to arbitration.

MISSES

Kyle Tucker — The Los Angeles Dodgers have arguably become more of a nemesis for the Blue Jays of late than any of their American League East rivals. First, it was signing Shohei Ohtani when it looked like the two-way superstar was heading north. Then it was reliever Roki Sasaki signing with L.A. when he was reportedly close to coming to Toronto. Most painful for the Jays was losing to the Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series after squandering many chances to win.

Now add Tucker to the list. The four-time all-star who was long rumoured to be a target of the Blue Jays reportedly agreed to a $240 million, four-year contract with the Dodgers instead.

Tucker reportedly toured the Blue Jays’ spring training facilities in Dunedin, Fla., which raised hopes in Toronto of the possibility of a signing. Of course, Ohtani did the same thing before signing with the Dodgers.

Bo Bichette — This one definitely stings for Toronto.

After an excellent 2025 season, and reports that he was interested in returning to the only MLB team he has ever played for, sources tell The Associated Press that Bichette has agreed to a $126 million, three-year contract with the Mets, who were another also-ran in the Tucker sweepstakes.

Bichette came up through the Jays’ system along with close friend Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and is a two-time all-star with a penchant for big hits.

The 27-year-old led the American League in hits in 2021 and ’22. He was second in the AL with 181 hits this past season and was also second in the batting race with a .311 average.

His three-run homer in Game 7 of the World Series gave the Jays a 3-0 lead they eventually relinquished.

While his bat will be tough to replace, the long-time shortstop was likely to be replaced at the position next season by light-hitting but defensively elite Andres Gimenez.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2026.

The Canadian Press