3 Blue Jays who won't be back after Toronto finally signs a star FA

At long last, the Toronto Blue Jays finally landed a high-end free agent. It wasn't Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, or even Roki Sasaki, but the Jays did sign Anthony Santander to a five-year deal on Monday.

Santander has his flaws as a player, but he provides one specific tool that this Jays team lacks: Power. Santander launched 44 home runs this past season and has averaged 35 home runs in each of the last three years. The Blue Jays ranked 26th in home runs this past season. Santander, especially protecting Vladimir Guerrero Jr., is a great fit in Toronto.

Santander's arrival is a huge one, and should lead to more moves. With more moves comes the departure of at least these three players.

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3) The Blue Jays must find an upgrade over Tyler Heinemann

For the last half-decade or so, the Jays have had one of the more underrated catcher duos in the game with Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk on their roster. Neither player was a star, but they were both starter-level players, giving Toronto a solid option behind the plate nightly. With Jansen now in Tampa Bay, that isn't the case.

Kirk is still around, but the Jays lack an established backup. If the regular season began today, Tyler Heinemann would probably fill that role. That should not be the case.

Heinemann has had three separate stints with Toronto and has been with five different teams at the MLB level, but has never hit much in the big leagues. The 33-year-old went just 1-for-12 in limited MLB time last season, and has a .571 OPS in 260 at-bats overall.

It might not seem like a big deal to have Heinemann on the roster as a backup, but do the Jays really want him playing once or twice a week in a lineup that already is pretty weak at the bottom? Do the Jays really want Heinemann to be their backup option if Kirk suffers an injury? There aren't many exciting options in free agency, but some provide a lot more offensive firepower than Heinemann, which is needed.

2) Zach Pop pitched his way out of Toronto

This one might be slightly controversial, but it shouldn't be. Zach Pop ranked second among Jays pitchers with 58 appearances this past season, and was (surprisingly) not non-tendered earlier this offseason. Getting rid of a pitcher that the Jays liked enough to use as often as they did and keep around past the tender deadline would be strange, but it's what should be done.

Pop made all of those appearances but had an uninspiring 5.59 ERA in 48.1 innings of work. He had just 33 strikeouts compared to 19 walks and nine home runs allowed. He looked mostly overmatched at the MLB level which shouldn't be surprising considering he spent most of the 2023 season in the minor leagues due to his struggles at the sport's highest level.

The Jays have added Jeff Hoffman, Nick Sandlin, and Yimi Garcia to this bullpen already, but they still need another arm or two to round out the 'pen. Assuming they do, Pop should be the first one to go. With him being out of options, the Jays might lose him to another desperate team in need of arms.

1) Tommy Nance could be the next player on the chopping block

Unlike Pop, Tommy Nance wasn't awful for the Jays in 2024, posting a 4.09 ERA in 20 appearances and 22 innings of work overall. With that being said, his 5.15 ERA in parts of three MLB seasons tells the whole story. Nance is nothing more than a fringe MLB reliever at best.

Like Pop, Nance is out of options. Sure, the Jays can keep him around and hope that he builds off his 2024 season. He's got plenty of team control as well. However, he likely faces an even tougher battle to Pop since he wasn't just given more than the MLB minimum salary to stick around.

The Jays need to add at least one more reliever to really put their finishing touches on this bullpen. Even if they don't, internal options like Josh Walker and Ryan Burr have more upside than Nance, making him an easy player to part with. Similarly to Pop, he might land elsewhere on waivers to a team in need of more pitching.