Blue Jays: What about the offense?

With the trade deadline approaching, the Blue Jays had a clear mandate: to improve the team for the 2027 season.

In my view, they've succeeded on the mound. Trey Yesavage, Jose Soriano, and Dylan Cease have the potential to form an excellent top-three rotation, and players like Cody Ponce and Spencer Arrighetti will undoubtedly play important roles with the team.

In the bullpen, key players like Louis Varland, Tyler Rogers, Spencer Miles, Braydon Fisher, and Mason Fluharty are still around.

Is there work to be done to improve? Yes, of course. But the foundation isn't bad at all for a team that wants to win in 15 months.

But offensively? That's a different story. And I'm not saying that just because Daulton Varsho is gone—since that doesn't change much.

Kazuma Okamoto is the best hitter on the team this year, and he'll be back next year, too. Ernie Clement and Brandon Valenzuela will also be back.

But what about the rest? George Springer will be a free agent, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has something to prove, Nathan Lukes isn't the savior, Andres Gimenez is a poor hitter, and so on.

Addison Barger and Anthony Santander may be back, but they'll need some help. And at the trade deadline, that need wasn't addressed properly.

Brett Bateman and Ty Southisene (who is a long way from the majors), acquired in exchange for Kevin Gausman, have no power.

Dameury Pena, the hitter acquired in exchange for Jeff Hoffman, is a long way from the majors, but he's even further from having any power. He'll hit a home run in 2026.

As for Josh Smith, it's clear he isn't the most powerful hitter either.

In terms of slugging percentage, he's been below average since the start of his career… and that's been the case every season he's spent with the Texas Rangers.

The Blue Jays have the second-worst slugging percentage in the league in 2026. And what happened on Sunday and Monday isn't going to change that.

That's understandable in a way, since you can't fix all your problems in 24 hours. But this winter, the Blue Jays' number-one need couldn't be clearer.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.