No one is having more fun this season than the Toronto Blue Jays, who celebrated their first pennant in 32 years (and nearly won the World Series) by rearming and getting back into contention. Mid-season acquisition Shane Bieber re-signed for pennies on the dollar, and Toronto replenished its rotation by landing the best free agent pitcher on the market, Dylan stopsas well as KBO breakthrough star Cody Ponce.
The Jays then kicked off January by turning back to the international market to acquire a third baseman Kazuma Okamoto of the Yomiuri Giants of NPB. The Jays already rank third in projected 2026 payroll, at least for now; the Phillies and Yankees are fourth and fifth, with both clubs still needing to finalize their rosters a bit before spring training.
Except apparently the Jays aren’t done yet either.
After Okamoto’s signing, Mitch Bannon parted ways The Athletics reported that Toronto’s pursuit by Kyle Tucker only increases in intensity. And while Okamoto’s arrival seems to obviate the need for an incumbent shortstop Bo Bichetteeverything is possible.
Only, where would these guys even play? The Blue Jays’ run in the World Series was complicated by injuries to Bichette and last offseason’s big signing. Anthony Santanderleading to many more high-leverage at-bats for Myles Straw And Isiah Kiner Fear then administrator Johannes Schneider would have liked.
But even the no-Tucker, no-Bichette version of the Blue Jays lineup looks pretty well stocked.
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The non-Tucker, non-Bichette Blue Jays lineup
| Projected Blue Jays Lineup vs. RHP | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DH | George Springer | .327 | .412 | .588 | 178 |
| 2 | RF | Addison Barger | .249 | .308 | .480 | 115 |
| 3 | 1B | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | .282 | .367 | .452 | 129 |
| 4 | L.F | Anthony Santander | .185 | .277 | .329 | 70 |
| 5 | c | Alejandro Kirk | .284 | .348 | .423 | 116 |
| 6 | C.F | Daulton Varsho | .232 | .274 | .591 | 129 |
| 7 | 3B | Kazuma Okamoto* | .327 | .416 | .598 | 210 |
| 8 | 2B | Ernie Clemens | .254 | .295 | .327 | 75 |
| 9 | SS | Andres Gimenez | .221 | .301 | .329 | 80 |
| Order | Position | Name | GDPR | OBP | SLG | wRC+ |
| 1 | DH | George Springer | .254 | .361 | .475 | 132 |
| 2 | L.F | Davis Schneider | .215 | .344 | .364 | 106 |
| 3 | 1B | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | .326 | .428 | .519 | 163 |
| 4 | c | Alejandro Kirk | .276 | .347 | .417 | 113 |
| 5 | 3B | Kazuma Okamoto* | .327 | .416 | .598 | 210 |
| 6 | 2B | Ernie Clemens | .326 | .351 | .549 | 146 |
| 7 | C.F | Daulton Varsho | .260 | .321 | .380 | 98 |
| 8 | RF | Anthony Santander | .146 | .255 | .188 | 32 |
| 9 | SS | Andres Gimenez | .175 | .233 | .263 | 39 |
All stats are 2025 platoon splits, except Okamoto’s, which are stats for the entire 69-game season in NPB.
Nathan LucasToronto’s regular No. 2 hitter this past postseason is nowhere to be found. How could this team ever find room for one or even two superstars in this lineup?
One option Bannon mentioned would be to trade Santander. The 31-year-old was Toronto’s marquee free agent last season, and I was one of many who raised an eyebrow at the time: A corner outfield player who had just posted a career-high 3.2 WAR, without any notable defensive or on-base ability, is hardly the kind of player I would go out of my way to give to a five-year contract.
Clearly, the Blue Jays had no illusions about how he would age, but hoped that the 40-home run power he just demonstrated in 2025 and 2026 would be valuable enough to make the decline palatable. Well, Santander couldn’t stay on the field and when he was in the lineup, he hit .175/.271/.294. With penalties for positional adjustment, defense and baserunning, that amounts to -0.9 WAR. If the Blue Jays were the only team that thought he was worth $92.5 million five seasons ago, I doubt anyone else thinks Santander will be worth $74.5 million four years from now, plus whatever it takes to acquire him. If the Blue Jays want to move on from Santander, the question isn’t what they can get for him, but whether they are better off with prospects to entice a trade partner to pick up a piece of the contract, or cut their losses and eat the whole thing. At that point you might as well hold the guy and see if he bounces back.
Assuming Santander returns, the Jays have high-profile veterans locked up in four of the five easiest defensive positions: Springer at DH, Guerrero at first, Okamoto at third and Santander in one of the outfield corners. Catcher isn’t really relevant to a lineup puzzle involving Bichette or Tucker, but the Jays play there with Alejandro Kirk.
The kicker is this: the rest of Toronto’s returning position player group is made up of guys who are a combination of young, cheap, platoonable and defensively versatile. To make the puzzle meaningful, I came up with a handy table.
My handy Blue Jays lineup options chart
| Player | c | 1B | 2B | 3B | SS | L.F | C.F | RF | DH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Addison Barger | RHP | RHP | RHP | RHP | |||||
| Alejandro Kirk | |||||||||
| Andres Gimenez | RHP | ||||||||
| Anthony Santander | |||||||||
| Daulton Varsho | RHP | RHP | |||||||
| Davis Schneider | |||||||||
| Ernie Clemens | LHP | ||||||||
| George Springer | |||||||||
| Kazuma Okamoto | |||||||||
| Nathan Lucas | |||||||||
| Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | |||||||||
| Kyle Tucker | |||||||||
| Bo Bichette |
Green: Ideal fit
Red: Defensively suboptimal
Purple: offensively suboptimal
Blue: Currently not on the roster
Can you make these pieces fit? Absolutely, if you’re willing to get creative.
I don’t think anyone wants Bichette to be at shortstop every day going forward, but he could play second base with Clement and Giménez sharing the load at short depending on the opponent and the situation. You could use Clement, Barger, Bichette, Santander, Schneider, Lukes and Giménez as a five-way platoon that includes three-quarters of the infield and both corners of the outfield. Casey Stengel’s claws at the inside of his coffin and tries to escape so he can come back to life and lead this team.
To be clear, the Blue Jays have had a good offseason, even if they aren’t spending another dime. The lineup as currently constructed, along with a strong rotation, should make Toronto an early favorite to repeat as AL champions.
But if the Blue Jays wanted to add Tucker or Bichette, they could make it work. Just think how exciting that would be, both for Toronto fans and Undead Casey Stengel.
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