https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-descend-into-blame-game-as-atkins-misses-chance-to-protect-schneider/
The offence, as Atkins mentioned, is in need of fixing and work is underway in digging into this year’s shortcomings.
Atkins spoke of his pending free agents as if they were already gone, saying that “we’ll miss Matt Chapman and Brandon Belt and Kevin Kiermaier and we'll see opportunities to work to fill those holes from within and externally,” only to describe them as “alternatives” when later asked to clarify.
Their imminent departures, as well as those of Hyun Jin Ryu (he “could also be an alternative for us”) and Whit Merrifield open up a significant chunk of payroll, although internal salary growth will eat up some of that.
Nonetheless, freed-up money will give the Blue Jays a chance to shop where they want in a thin free-agent class in which Chapman and two players they traded last winter, Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., are among the best hitters available.
The biggest prize, of course, is Shohei Ohtani and some industry chatter in recent weeks suggested he’d be more open to an East Coast club this time around, had taken notice of the Blue Jays’ player-development resources and that the idea of adding a third country, Canada, to his prime fanbase carried some appeal for him.
Whether that’s more than just the usual grist for the mill is a fair question, but it also underlines the current stakes for the Blue Jays.