TORONTO — The feelings over Game 7 of the World Series remain raw and perspectives are still taking shape for the Toronto Blue Jays. Yet the baseball calendar is relentless, pausing for nothing, so there up on the dais Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins were Thursday, trying to cast forward to an off-season already in full churn and a 2026 campaign that feels like it’s being seen in a passenger side mirror, objects reflected are closer than they appear.
In terms of immediate news, Atkins revealed that the 2026 option on manager John Schneider had been exercised and the sides were discussing a bigger deal, while Shapiro said his extension talks had been put on hold during the playoffs but “we’ll likely work something out, soon,” neither of which was a surprise. Also, as expected, the Blue Jays extended a qualifying offer of $22.025 million to Bo Bichette — a procedural move ensuring they get a compensatory draft pick if he leaves as a free agent — before the market’s 5 p.m. ET opening.
So, baseball, start your usually very slow, deliberate and dragged-out winter shopping.
For all those reasons, Thursday’s media sessions with the club’s top executives carried a more direct through line from the Saturday’s gutting 5-4, 11-inning loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, to the winter’s business, with less time, despite more need, for reflection.
The whirlwind from 2024’s 88-loss crash to coming within inches of winning the World Series is head-spinning, and that’s without factoring in the wider repositioning of the franchise during that time.
Remember that near the end of spring training, when Shapiro met with media as opening day approached, he described the Blue Jays as an organization facing “a pivotal year that represents an inflection point for us.”
Since then, they extended Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a $500-million, 14-year contract, had several players emerge en route to an American League East title before a playoff run that could have doubled as a marketing campaign for the franchise.
Comparatively, then, how are the Blue Jays positioned now?
“It’s hard for me to characterize. I think I need a little more time. I need to probably see our strategy for the off-season moving forward. But we’re certainly in a better position,” replied Shapiro. “We had another good year, back-to-back, player-development-wise. We really made some progress in the system. Obviously reaped the benefits of a draft far faster than we ever imagined (with 2024 first-rounder Trey Yesavage). And had the biggest stage possible to showcase our city, our ballpark, our organization, our team to the entire baseball world. So those things will all be building blocks for us moving forward.”
Fair enough, but beyond the desire to win the World Series next year, and some recognition “that you just can’t recreate something identical” from a roster perspective in 2026, there was precious little in terms of details from Shapiro or Atkins.
The future of Bichette is, without doubt, the most fundamental issue before the franchise with status of Shapiro and Schneider essentially settled (Atkins’ contract runs through 2026), and the executive duo offered few clues beyond the platitudes.
A willingness for Bichette, who played second base during the World Series to quicken his path back from a knee sprain, to return as shortstop is perhaps the most notable, with Atkins saying that “with us, it can work either way.”
“Which is, a good starting point,” he added, “but we will work through that with him and make sure we fully exhaust what is ideal for him.”
The same applies to Andres Gimenez, who slid over to shortstop from second base shortly after Bichette’s Sept. 6 injury, and during the ALDS said the transition “hasn’t been easy body-wise.” The position is “a little bit more demanding, got to be more active, I have to prepare myself a little bit better to play shortstop,” he said, adding later, that he was “happy to help the team in that position, and I’m really happy for that.”
Either way, retaining Bichette won’t be easy as he’ll be among the very top free-agent position players available, coveted not only for his prowess at the plate but also for his ability to make contact against even the very best pitching, a rare and valuable trait.
He’s also selling his age-28 season and beyond and teams have generally been aggressive in the market for such young talent, which is why the Blue Jays are in for a fight here.
“He’s been important,” said Atkins. “We will be in his market.”
Asked if he had an early read of what that market looked like and what the opportunity for the Blue Jays was at this point, Atkins replied, simply, “Yes.”
Subsequently asked for that read, he grinned and said, “I’m not going to say that part.”
Whatever happens, Bichette really is the linchpin for what the Blue Jays do this off-season, one in which they can go a number of different directions.
Atkins on multiple occasions mentioned how the positional versatility of players like Ernie Clement and Addison Barger, among others, opened up different opportunities and he wouldn’t rule out pursuing another primary DH type despite already having George Springer and Anthony Santander on the roster.
“I don’t want to put ourselves in a box,” said Atkins. “The versatility allows us to think in a way that we can be more creative.”
On the pitching side, the options are a bit more straightforward.
Shane Bieber’s decision to exercise his $16 million player option for next year, rather than taking a $4 million buyout and hitting the open market, reduces the lift needed in the rotation. Jose Berrios, who finished the season on the IL with right elbow inflammation, is healthy enough to have “a completely normal off-season and be ready for spring training,” said Atkins while reliever Louis Varland, a former starter, could be considered for a starting spot “if he were open to that,” but the Blue Jays first “would want to dig into (that) a little bit further.”
On the bullpen, Atkins’ most notable comment related to closer Jeff Hoffman, when he said, “the great thing about Jeff is he’s not married to that (role). Talking about that cohesion and that team approach, he epitomizes it. I think he would be open to anything that makes us better.”
Put all together, the Blue Jays are open to anything and everything, an Atkins Masterclass in divulging close to nothing.
Soon enough, though, their plans will become more evident, as the Blue Jays seek to remain a team capable of winning the World Series. How much they run back from this year and how replicable what they built are among the key questions ahead.
“There are identity traits and culture traits that if they’re present, if they’re deeply woven within an organization, I don’t view those to be short-term,” said Shapiro. “Those are efforts from our baseball operations group led by Ross over multiple years in the identification of talent, the acquisition of talent, the development of talent at the player-development level and the ultimately the building of a team. The power of having those play out on this stage is that it’s more clear to everyone how important they are without having to say it. And I think players that value those things, as well, gravitate towards it.”
An off-season that arrived immediately after Game 7 is about to test precisely that.
