3 underserving Blue Jays who will return this winter thanks to Ross Atkins

The Toronto Blue Jays are in for a very important offseason this winter. There are a ton of different moves for Ross Atkins and the rest of the Toronto front office to make.

Extending the contracts of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette will be two of the top priorities for the team, but bringing in outside free agents will be a huge piece of improving the roster. Toronto has been rumored to have serious interest in Juan Soto, which would be a franchise-changing move for the Jays.

But the Blue Jays currently have a ton of money wrapped up in players that aren't contributing in the way that they should. Instead of finding a way to cut ties with these players, general manager Ross Atkins will bring them back when they don't really deserve it.

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3. RHP Chris Bassitt

Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt received quite a bit of attention last season at the trade deadline. But Toronto had a very strict plan to their deadline approach. They were going to trade away all of their expiring contracts while bringing back any player who will surely be on the 2025 roster. This idea makes sense to a certain extent. But with Bassitt specifically, it doesn't make much sense.

Toronto is paying Bassitt over $20 million a year to be a league-average pitcher. If the Blue Jays would have traded him, they could have gotten off of his entire contract while also bringing in a ton of prospect capital as well. Instead, the Blue Jays held onto him and he's back for 2025 after posting an ERA over 4.00 in 2024.

Bassitt isn't a bad pitcher by any means. But the Blue Jays could have — and should have — gotten off of his contract and used that money to bring in an even better pitcher in free agency.

Instead of having Bassitt, the Blue Jays could have a package of two or three solid prospects as well as money to send to Soto, Guererro, Bichette or some other free agent to improve their roster.

2. RHP Alek Manoah

One of the more confusing players on the Blue Jays roster is the pitcher Alek Manoah. Sometimes Manoah looks like a Cy Young candidate. Other times he looks like he would get crushed by a decent college baseball team. It really doesn't make much sense as to how it happens. But one thing is for certain: the Blue Jays can't trust him in their rotation until he can figure out how to find some consistency.

Yet, Ross Atkins has brought him back to the organization for another year. If Manoah has a good winter and a good Spring Training, he'll likely get another shot at making the Opening Day roster, which will infuriate Blue Jays fans everywhere.

The Blue Jays would have been better off trading him while he had a little bit of value last year. Now, most teams likely look at Manoah as a lost cause, forcing the Blue Jays to keep him and try to turn his career back around.

While there's a chance that Manoah could turn his career back around, the Blue Jays don't have the time to keep letting him blow starts at the big-league level.

1. OF George Springer

The most overpaid player on the Blue Jays roster is their center fielder George Springer. If the Blue Jays want to win games in the loaded American League East, they're going to need to spend their money as optimally as possible. Spending $25 million a year on a veteran outfielder who struggles the way Springer has does not fit that definition.

Toronto should look to shop Springer, potentially eating part of his contract or attaching prospects to him in order to get his money off the books. It would work wonders toward the Blue Jays adding serious talent to their roster this offseason, but general manager Ross Atkins likely won't do that.

In fact, Atkins will likely keep Springer on the roster for the length of his contract rather than cutting ties with him to save some money. It's one of the more costly decisions that he can make because Springer takes up a spot on the roster while earning $25 million a season to perform around 1.0 WAR for a full year. You can find players worth 1.0 WAR for less than $2 million a year, yet the Blue Jays are spending $25 million to get that medicore production.