Power Ranking Toronto Blue Jays' Biggest Needs Heading into Free Agency

The Toronto Blue Jays finished the 2014 season with an 83-79 record and missed the playoffs for the 21st straight season. Heading into the offseason, it’ll be important for the Blue Jays to shore up any areas of weaknesses on the roster before the 2015 season begins.

While Toronto’s main core of players should stay the same heading into next year, Blue Jays fans should still expect to see some changes by the time spring training rolls around.

First of all, several players on the team that will be free agents this offseason or have a team option for next season likely won’t be brought back. These include the likes of Colby Rasmus, Casey Janssen, Dustin McGowan and Sergio Santos.

So, which areas on the team need to be upgraded the most? Let’s take a look at the Blue Jays’ biggest needs heading into free agency.

3. Second Base

It seems like second base has been one of the biggest weaknesses in the Blue Jays lineup for several years now. This past season was no different.

Toronto opened the 2014 campaign with Ryan Goins as the team’s starting second baseman. Unfortunately, Goins was unable to take advantage of the opportunity and ended up bouncing between the majors and Triple-A Buffalo. He ended the season hitting just .188/.209/.271 in 67 games for the Blue Jays.

Besides Goins, Toronto used six other players at second base during the 2014 season. None of these players were able to seize the starting job. Overall, Blue Jays second basemen combined to hit just .247/.295/.340 with seven home runs, 48 RBI and 52 runs scored.

After exhausting all of their internal options, it looks like the Blue Jays need to acquire a proven second baseman via trade or free agency. If this proves to be too difficult, Toronto could always decide to shift third baseman Brett Lawrie to second base and look for a new third baseman instead.

2. Center/Left Field

After a breakout season in 2013, it seemed like Rasmus was poised to become the Blue Jays’ future center fielder going forward. Now, just one year later, it seems like the 28-year-old’s time with the team has come to an end.

Instead of building upon his successful 2013 season, Rasmus struggled badly during 2014. The center fielder hit just .225/.287/.448 with 18 home runs, 40 RBI and 45 runs scored in 104 games. Toronto actually benched Rasmus during the final month of the season.

Considering that he’s now a free agent, it appears that both Rasmus and the Blue Jays are ready to move on from each other. This leaves Toronto with a hole in its outfield.

To make matter worse, left fielder Melky Cabrera is also a free agent and appears set to test the market. Cabrera was huge part of Toronto’s offense in 2014, hitting .301/.351/.458 with 16 home runs, 73 RBI and 81 runs scored in 139 games.

While the Blue Jays have said that they want to bring back Cabrera, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, there are no guarantees that the left fielder will re-sign with the team.

So the Blue Jays could potentially be looking for both a center fielder and left fielder this offseason.

The team could also go with some internal options to play in the outfield next season such as Anthony Gose, Kevin Pillar and Dalton Pompey. But Gose and Pillar don’t have much offensive upside, and the 21-year-old Pompey will likely need more seasoning in the minors.

The bottom line is that re-signing Cabrera needs to be Toronto’s top priority if the team wants to have a competitive offense next season.

1. Relievers

One of the main priorities for the Blue Jays this offseason should be to overhaul a bullpen that ranked 25th in the majors in ERA during the 2014 season.

As mentioned above, Janssen—the team’s closer since 2012—is likely to leave via free agency this winter. While Janssen’s overall numbers in 2014 were solid, his performance following the All-Star break (6.46 ERA in 23.2 innings pitched) will likely lead the Blue Jays to look for an upgrade.

Toronto will also likely need at least two more relievers in order to account for the potential departures of McGowan and Santos.

Santos’ $6 million 2015 option will almost certainly be declined after he posted a 8.57 ERA in 21 innings pitched this past season. McGowan had a decent 3.35 ERA as a reliever in 2014, but his $4 million 2015 option seems to be a bit too pricey and could also be declined.

The Blue Jays will also need a replacement for Aaron Sanchez if he’s shifted into a starting role next season. Sanchez was arguably the team’s best reliever since his call-up last season, posting a microscopic 1.09 ERA in 33 innings pitched.

Overall, the only two relievers from this year’s bullpen who should have a guaranteed spot on the team’s relief corps next season are Aaron Loup and Brett Cecil. All the other spots in the bullpen should be open for upgrades.

*All stats are from MLB.com.