The Toronto Blue Jays need to start thinking outside the box as all the top free agents are gone and they just missed their chance with free agent Josh Bell.
The Blue Jays need to bring in offense and pitching if they want to avoid a rebuild in 2025 but with so many players now being signed they need to think differently in how they can land the few solid players that remain.
The Blue Jays miss out on DH Josh Bell as the Nationals sign him
The Blue Jays are in need of finding some hiding gems on the free agent market and it looks like the Nationals beat them to the punch of a solid signing in bringing in DH Josh Bell.
The Nationals agreed to a one year deal with Bell worth $6million which is a bargain contract for the amount of offense he will be bringing to their lineup next season as a DH.
Veteran first baseman Bell and the Nationals have agreed on a one-year, $6 million deal for 2025, sources told MLB.com on Sunday night. The team has not confirmed the deal. -Camerato
Bell would have been great for the Blue Jays as he still possesses a ton of offensive talent a he had 19 homeruns, 71 RBIs with a .249 batting average and .305 on base percentage split between the Miami Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks last season.
Bell, 32, remains a potentially big bat, given his ability to hit for power and reach base in other ways. Though his overall production the past two seasons was around league average (101 OPS+ in 2023 and 97 OPS+ in '24), the nine-year veteran has a track record of parlaying a change of scenery into solid production. -Camerato
While the Blue Jays did not even seem to have Bell on their radar, after missing out on so many players such as Teoscar Hernandez, Josh Naylor and Juan Soto, the Blue Jays need to start looking at players like Bell.
Atkins is running out of options and needs to start looking at all possible players that could benefit the lineup in any way if he wants to avoid a rebuild.