With spring training approaching, the Toronto Blue Jays are being urged to finish their offseason by signing a former AL All-Star projected to cost around $5 million.
For all of their MLB-leading spending this offseason, committing $337 million in salary over the upcoming years to newly signed free agents, the Blue Jays still enter spring training camp now less than two weeks away with a significant degree of uncertainty in their outfield. Last offseason’s five-year, $92.5 million signing, Anthony Santander, was limited to just 54 games in 2025 with a shoulder injury. And when he played, he managed only a dismal .565 OPS with six home runs.
One Last Move For Ross Atkins?
At age 29 and entering his seventh season, Daulton Varsho appears set to lock down center field. But a series of injuries held Varsho to only 71 games last season. A third outfield spot appears wide-open, with Addison Barger, Nathan Lukes, Kazuma Okamoto and Joey Loperfido among the group all vying to claim the place.
But according to Michael Brauner of SI.com, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins may have one last move waiting to be made before spring training camp opens on February 11 — and that could be a former American League All-Star outfielder who was once the Baltimore Orioles No. 1 prospect.
Austin Hays Remains Available
“After (Kyle) Tucker and Cody Bellinger came off the board within days of each other, the outfield market was left fairly bleak and a star is not in the cards at this point,” Brauner wrote on Thursday. “The argument can be made for the Blue Jays at this point to simply roll with what they have and find an ideal combination at the mercy of Anthony Santander’s health, but (Atkins) may have a different mindset there.”
Brauner notes that one outfielder remains available at a relatively low cost, coming off a season with the Cincinnati Reds in which he put up a .768 OPS with 15 home runs in 416 plate appearances. For 30-year-old Austin Hays, his 2025 OPS was better than any Blue Jays outfielder who played at least 70 games, except for Varsho, who came in at .833.
Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles as a third-rounder out of Jacksonville University in 2016, Hays made his big league debut the following season.
But he did not play enough to qualify as a rookie until the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. In 2018, MLB Pipeline ranked Hays as the Orioles’ top prospect.
Hays Projected to Draw a $5 Million Contract
“At this point, the best option would be a one-year deal for Hays, who played in 103 games for the Cincinnati Reds in 2025 and slashed .266/.315/.453 with 15 home runs and 64 RBI,” wrote SI.com‘s Brauner. “The 30-year-old remains available and would be an excellent platoon option if Toronto decided they wanted an insurance plan.”
Signing Hays would likely mean adding only $5 million to the Blue Jays’ hefty free agent expenditures this offseason. The 2023 All-Star played last season on a one-year, $5 million deal with the Reds. The sports business site Spotrac estimates that Hays’ one-year deal for 2026 will come in at roughly the same amount, $5.1 million.
Of course, with the Blue Jays already a second-year payer of the competitive balance tax — or “luxury tax” — and with a payroll currently at about $312 million, any new free agent contracts would be taxed at an effective 90 percent rate. That means a $5.1 million deal for Hays would actually cost the Blue Jays roughly $9.7 million, which may be a reason Atkins would look to fill the Jays’ outfield spots internally.
Blue Jays Projected to Sign $5 Million Former AL All-Star as Final Offseason Move