After a sad collapse in the World Series that resulted in losing in Game 7 to the Los Angeles Dodgers, recent reports have shown that the Toronto Blue Jays still believe they are in a championship-contending window.
Speculation has risen on the relationship between the Blue Jays and free agents Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker.
Bichette has shown that he's still interested in returning to Toronto; meanwhile, it appears that it will take some more persuading between both sides when it comes to Kyle Tucker.
Here's the latest.
Blue Jays "remain linked" to free agents Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker
The Athletic's Mitch Bannon broke down what's going on with the Toronto Blue Jays in free agency, saying that the team "remains linked" to both Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker.
"Although league sources said the Jays have increased their efforts to recruit (Kyle) Tucker, who remains a roster fit after the signing of Japanese slugger Kazuma Okamoto, a reunion with (Bo) Bichette appears increasingly unlikely.
Toronto is obviously staying aggressive in free agency, and general manager Ross Atkins stated that "if there's an opportunity for us to think about improving this organization, we're going to always lean into creative ways to do so."
It would be nice for the Blue Jays to get all of this top-tier talent, but there's also a lot of money that's involved in doing just that.
Toronto's projected collective bargaining tax payroll sits above $304 million, according to Cot's Baseball.
With the tax threshold being set at this amount, every dollar that's added to their payroll will be taxed by 90%.
A lot of decisions will have to be made by the franchise, Bichette, and Tucker. From what is being reported, Bichette may be the odd man out in this case.
More Blue Jays news:
Blue Jays GM jokingly blamed by Scott Boras for slow free agent market
Blue Jays' Dylan Cease predicted to accomplish a career-first in 2026
- George Springer's situation causes insider to put Kyle Tucker at top of Blue Jays offseason list