November is about to become a sprint for MLB teams trying to get business done before the calendar turns to December 2nd and the threat of a labour stoppage shuts everything down. Once that happens, the market goes quiet: no signings, no trades, and no telling how long the freeze will last.
That ticking clock should push clubs to move faster than usual, and it puts teams like the Toronto Blue Jays in a strong position to strike. With money coming off the books and obvious holes in the lineup, Toronto looks ready to shop aggressively. They won’t land everybody, but there are at least a couple names in the top 10 who fit what the Blue Jays need.
One of those names is Seiya Suzuki, whom the prediction here sends to Toronto on a 5-year, $115 million deal. The fit is simple. Suzuki is a right-handed corner outfielder with home run power, and the Blue Jays have the spending room to chase him with several contracts coming off the books.
Toronto also shows up earlier in the list with an even bigger bat. The Blue Jays’ middle infield of Andrés Giménez and Ernie Clement simply isn’t good enough offensively to compete for a championship.
Lowe, projected to land in Toronto on a 3-year, $75 million deal, would solve that immediately by giving them a perennial 30-home run bat in the middle of the diamond and the lineup. He’s a perfect fit.
At the top of the predictions, the New York Mets are pegged as the eventual winner for Tarik Skubal, with the expectation that owner Steve Cohen will be the one to finally end the chase by dropping the half-billion hammer. The thinking is that Skubal’s free agency has been building toward a major bidding war, and few owners are better positioned to win one. Cohen may also have extra motivation after missing out on Kyle Tucker last winter.
Teruaki Sato is the other big bat near the top of the list, with the Yankees predicted to land him on a 7-year, $160 million deal. The connection is obvious: New York needs help at third base, needs a right-handed power bat, and has already shown it’s willing to spend big on a Japanese star coming over from NPB, as its past pursuit of Yoshinobu Yamamoto showed. It makes too much sense.
Freddy Peralta is forecast to end up with the Dodgers on a 6-year, $150 million deal, giving Los Angeles another frontline arm. The prediction assumes his disastrous first half of 2026 was an outlier and notes that the Dodgers probably won’t pay what it would take to keep Skubal, even if they still have room to spend.
Elsewhere on the board, Trevor Rogers is projected to sign with the Atlanta Braves for 5 years and $100 million, a move that would give them needed starting pitching behind Chris Sale. Jake Bauers is expected to stay with the Milwaukee Brewers on a 4-year, $60 million deal, while Adrian Morejon is predicted to land with the Athletics on a 5-year, $85 million contract as a pitcher who fits their Sacramento home park. Brandon Lowe was not the only Blue Jays connection in the piece, but Toronto’s interest in Suzuki stands out as the clearest path to a major addition before the market gets frozen.
In Other News...
Former Blue Jay Just Turned Up Pressure On Toronto's Offseason Plan
The Blue Jays offseason wish list has already been a topic of plenty of debate, and a recent conversation between former Toronto outfielder Kevin Pillar and ex-Rogers Centre staple Ricky Romero only added to it. On their podcast, the two former Blue Jays talked through potential free-agent fits for the club and landed on Luis Arraez as a particularly intriguing option, the kind of contact-first hitter who could bring a different look to a lineup that could use more certainty at the plate.
Arraez is coming off a season split between the Giants and Phillies, and his appeal is obvious because of how consistently he puts the bat on the ball and the batting titles he has piled up. The bigger question for Toronto is where he would fit defensively, with possible alignments around the diamond part of the discussion, along with what sort of contract it would take to get him into the mix. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Roster Move Leaves One September Call-Up In Limbo
Rudy Martin Jr.s brief September run with the Blue Jays has already taken another turn. After clearing waivers, he was outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo and removed from the 40-man roster, a procedural move that trims the clubs depth chart while sending him back out of the big-league picture for now.
Martin got into two major league games for Toronto this month, a small but notable stop for a player who has spent most of his career bouncing through the minors and independent ball. Because he has been outrighted before, the next step is not entirely straightforward, and the clubs roster flexibility is part of the broader story as September gives way to whatever comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Just Lost A Reunion Path They Could Really Use
The Blue Jays were already staring at an offseason with a thin pool of impact bats, and one of the cleaner reunion ideas on the board has now disappeared. Bo Bichette is staying with the Mets through the 2027 season, which shuts the door on any easy path back to Toronto and takes a familiar middle-of-the-order bat off the market.
For a club that still needs help adding power, the timing matters. Toronto now has to sort through a free-agent class with fewer difference-makers and more competition for the ones who can actually change a lineup, making the search for offensive help a little trickier than it looked just a few days ago. [Read more 🡒]