The Toronto Blue Jays don’t need to shop the same aisle everyone else is hitting this winter. If the front office wants to get creative, there are a few under-the-radar names that could fit without paying the usual premium for a bigger headline.
One place to start is Zack Gelof, the Athletics utility man who turned in a quietly strong 2026 season. He put up 22 home runs, a .796 OPS, 116 OPS+ and 16 stolen bases, finally delivering on the promise he flashed as a rookie after a rough 2024 and an injury-wrecked 2025.
Gelof was drafted as a second baseman, but this year he spent most of his time at third base and also logged innings at all three outfield spots. That kind of flexibility fits the Blue Jays, who value defensive versatility.
The A’s might listen, too, since Gelof is arbitration-eligible and still relatively affordable. If Toronto dangled a package led by one of its younger pitching prospects, that could get attention from a club that badly needs starting pitching.
Ezequiel Tovar is a different kind of gamble. The Rockies shortstop had a rough 2026, finishing with a .617 OPS across a full season while playing half his games at Coors Field.
He wasn’t much better in 2025, either. Still, there’s a reason to look past the recent numbers.
In 2024, Tovar led the National League with 45 doubles, added 26 home runs, 78 RBI and a .763 OPS, and he also ranked in the 98th percentile with 15 outs above average at shortstop. The bat has sputtered, and the swing-and-miss is a real issue, but there’s enough there to imagine a rebound somewhere else.
For Toronto, he’d be a low-cost flyer worth exploring with a low-level prospect.
Andrew Abbott rounds out the trio as a buy-low pitching target. The Reds left-hander posted a career-worst 4.61 ERA and 1.452 WHIP over 32 starts in 2026, settling in as a steady but unspectacular innings eater.
That said, his 2025 season was strong enough to earn his first All-Star nod, and he had an ERA under 4.00 in each of the two seasons before that. Abbott’s stuff may not jump off the page, but he has shown he can handle the job as a solid No. 3 or No. 4 starter.
Cincinnati may be reluctant to move him, yet the fit is at least plausible given that Great American Ballpark may not be the best place for a flyball pitcher to thrive.
Toronto doesn’t have to choose between a splash and inactivity. Gelof, Tovar and Abbott each offer a different route: add a versatile piece, bet on a bounce-back, or try to unlock a starter in a better environment.
None comes with guarantees, and the price still has to make sense. But if the Blue Jays want value where others aren’t looking, this is a smart place to begin.
In Other News...
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Cole Carlon, though, remains the draft pick everyone is still waiting to see. Toronto took him at the top of the class, but he never appeared in a game after the draft, leaving his introduction to pro baseball for later on the timeline as the Blue Jays continue to sort through a crop of young talent that is already starting to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
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Toronto has spent enough time leaning on experienced talent to know how quickly those choices can reshape a roster, and this market could test how much interest there is in bringing some of those players back. The possibilities stretch well beyond Springer, with Jose Berrios, Max Scherzer, Shane Bieber and others all part of the uncertainty, leaving the Jays to weigh whether any of these veterans fit into the next step or whether they will be moving on to chase new deals elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Fans Will Hate How This World Series Collapse Unfolded
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The parallel is hard to miss for Toronto supporters, who saw a championship path slip away in painfully similar fashion last year. The Brewers still get another shot to finish the job, which is the part Blue Jays fans will notice most, since Toronto did not have that luxury after its own Game 7 heartbreak. [Read more 🡒]