The Blue Jays’ offseason may already have a clear target in view, and it comes with a profile Toronto badly needs.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com identified Jazz Chisholm Jr. as a possible fit for the Blue Jays as the pending unrestricted free agent second baseman gets ready for the market. That idea lands with some real logic behind it: Toronto is coming off a rough 2026 finish, Ross Atkins has already suggested some holdovers could slide into lesser roles while roster holes get filled, and Chisholm brings a left-handed bat with real impact traits.
There’s familiarity here, too. Chisholm has spent the past two and a half years facing Toronto more than 30 times, in both regular-season and postseason matchups, while with the New York Yankees.
The Blue Jays have seen enough to understand the appeal. Over the past four seasons, he has hit 93 home runs and, in 2026, stole 41 bases.
That kind of pop-and-speed combination is exactly what Toronto lacked for stretches last season. The club had hoped Ernie Clement would settle in at second base, and defensively he did plenty to justify that plan.
But the bat never fully came around. He finished with nine home runs and a .259/.285/.364 line, then faded late with a .442 OPS in August and September.
Chisholm’s 2026 season wasn’t exactly clean, either. The 28-year-old’s home run total dropped from 31 in 2025 to 19, and his .711 OPS was his lowest since his 2020 pandemic-shortened rookie year. In the postseason, his numbers were mixed: he delivered in his lone wild card round appearance, going 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored and two stolen bases, but he finished 0-for-8 with a walk in the Yankees’ ALDS sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Even with that downturn, Chisholm offers things Clement simply doesn’t at the plate. The power is real.
The speed is real. And he is nearly two full years younger than Toronto’s fan favorite.
The other reason this makes sense for the Blue Jays is flexibility. Signing Chisholm would not cost Toronto any trade assets, and it wouldn’t force Clement out the door. He could remain in the mix as a super-utility piece, capable of covering second base or jumping around the infield behind Chisholm, Andres Gimenez or Kazuma Okamoto if needed.
That wouldn’t solve everything for a Blue Jays team that finished 2026 with a lineup that ranked last in baseball in home runs and a roster that ranked 27th in stolen bases. But it would add the kind of offensive juice Toronto has been missing, deepen the group, and chip away at one of the division’s better teams at the same time.
In Other News...
Blue Jays Prospect Is Suddenly Pressuring Toronto's 2027 Pitching Plans
The Blue Jays have eight players in the Arizona Fall League this fall, using the showcase as a way to sharpen skills and gather information for the road ahead. It is less about short-term headlines than long-view planning, with Toronto trying to get a better read on the depth that could matter when the organization is shaping its 2027 picture on the pitching side and beyond.
Among the more encouraging developments has been Jake Bloss, whose early work has stood out enough to put him firmly on the radar as the Blue Jays sort through internal options. Aaron Parker has also started to look more comfortable at the plate, while other names in the group have had rougher stretches, giving Toronto a mixed but useful snapshot as the front office tracks which prospects are truly moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Face One Crucial Middle Infield Decision This Winter
The Blue Jays are spending the winter trying to answer a simple question with complicated consequences: how do they make the middle infield better without overcommitting? Toronto is weighing both trade and free-agent avenues as it looks to complement its current roster, and the names on the board point in different directions. CJ Abrams offers the kind of power-speed upside that can change a lineup, while Matt Shaw brings versatility, but each comes with a very different level of risk and offensive certainty.
Luis Arrez sits in the middle of that discussion as a more realistic fit, thanks to his high-contact profile and a glove that has come a long way. The Blue Jays are clearly trying to balance upside with practicality, and the choice at second base could shape how the rest of their offseason unfolds. A deal for the right fit might help stabilize the infield, but the front office still has to decide how far it is willing to go to get it done. [Read more 🡒]
One Blue Jays What-If Still Gets Fans Arguing About Development
Travis Snider remains one of the more debated development stories from that era of Blue Jays baseball. A highly touted prospect who reached Toronto in 2008, he flashed enough early promise to make it easy to imagine a different path, one where the clubs long search for a homegrown middle-of-the-order bat might have ended sooner than it did.
Instead, his time in Toronto never quite settled into the kind of steady runway young hitters usually need. Snider bounced through the organization without locking down a true everyday job, and by 2011 he was traded to the Pirates, with later stops in Baltimore following after that. It has become one of those cases fans still revisit when they talk about player development, because the talent was real, but the opportunity in front of him never seemed to fully match it. [Read more 🡒]