Oneil Cruz is about to get expensive in Pittsburgh. That's exactly why the Blue Jays should be calling this offseason.

The slugger enters his second year of arbitration eligibility this winter. A loose rule of thumb has players earning around 60% of open-market value in that year, up from about 40% in year one.

And the Pirates have consistently ranked in the bottom five in payroll. Small-market clubs tend to move players before that third-year bump to roughly 80% arrives.

Toronto can absorb the salary. A club that finished last in the majors in runs scored should be shopping in exactly this aisle.

Nobody has louder tools. Cruz owns the hardest-hit ball of the Statcast era, a 122.9 mph rocket off a Logan Henderson fastball that splashed into the Allegheny River 432 feet away.

He also holds the Home Run Derby record with a 513-foot shot. And 2026 was his best season yet, with an .854 OPS.

His breakout against lefties pushes Pittsburgh's asking price up

The biggest jump came against southpaws. He hit .102 against lefties in 2025, then .326 in 2026.

His career mark against them is still just .212. Even if he slides back and needs a platoon partner, he's stolen at least 30 bases in each of the last two seasons.

The flaws are real, too. He played 97 games in 2026, which is exactly his average over the past four seasons.

The swing-and-miss is extreme. He sat in the 2nd percentile in whiffs and the 1st percentile in strikeouts.

His .280 average leaned on a .397 BABIP, with an expected average of .251. Don't bank on a repeat.

He was a rough shortstop and is miscast in center despite the speed. But that cannon arm would play in right field, letting Toronto keep Brett Bateman in center.

The ground balls are a sneaky issue. His 48.8% GB rate tops even the 48.3% career mark of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Think of a sports car that spends too much time in the shop. When it actually runs, nothing else on the road keeps up.

There's the effort question as well. He was pulled from a game for lollygagging twice in one week in 2025, though 2026 passed without a repeat.

So would Pittsburgh actually sell? With a healthy Paul Skenes, the Pirates have the pitching to contend, which makes any deal harder to pry loose.

They'd likely want position-player prospects. Two of Toronto's No. 5 Will Brick, No. 6 Juan Sanchez or No. 7 Daisan Hill might get it done.

Brick is an 18-year-old catcher and Sanchez plays short and third. Hill came over from Minnesota in the Jeff Hoffman trade.

That's a price Ross Atkins should pay without blinking. Catcher, shortstop and third base are spots where Toronto already has talent, so those prospects are the right currency.

If the Pirates say no, Spencer Torkelson, JJ Bleday and Kody Clemens are the fallback names. None of them has hit a ball into a river, and Toronto knows the difference.