February 21, 2021

By Andrew Hendriks

Canadian Baseball Network

Win or lose, the Toronto Blue Jays' 2020-21 off-season will be remembered as one of the most active in franchise history, and the front office’s commitment to establishing a winning culture hasn't gone unnoticed to those within the system.

Blue Jays No. 5 prospect Alek Manoah expressed how the teams' active winter has inspired those around the organization speaking with reporters over Zoom on Sunday,

"The management and the front office have gone out and put some really good pieces together, and that only lets us know that we're here to win," said the 23-year-old right-hander.

"They've gone out and shown us that they're ready to go and that they want to win. That speaks volumes for us".

Fresh off the heels of a wild card series against the eventual American League champion Tampa Bay Rays, the club looks primed to build off of their third-place finish in the East. But to truly emerge as contenders in one of baseball's toughest divisions, there was work to be done inside the offices at One Blue Jays Way.

In terms of their 40-man roster, the additions started when Toronto re-signed 2017 National League Cy Young candidate Robbie Ray to a one-year deal in November.

Like most MLB clubs, things were relatively quiet between that point and the new year. Then came the week of January 18 to January 24.

In those seven calendar days, the club added the NL’s 2019 saves leader (Kirby Yates), a versatile swingman with one of the better spin rates (Tyler Chatwood), and the MVP of the 2017 World Series, George Springer, on a franchise-record six-year, $150-million deal.

A week later, Toronto acquired RHP Steven Matz before signing a player who one season removed from finishing third in American League MVP voting (Marcus Semien).

They would close out their pre-spring roster tweaks by adding right-handers Joel Payamps and David Phelps.

All told, the club assumed over $190M in contracts between Nov. 10 and Feb. 11. In addition to the financials, their MLB roster also picked up a combined 62.2 WAR and 75 games of postseason experience.

There were also the key minor league additions of INF Joe Panik and LHP Francisco Liriano, both of whom have been invited to big league camp in Dunedin this spring. They, too, have factored heavily into post-season action, combining for an additional 34 appearances (four coming with Toronto).

Feeling validated after a busy winter, those in the organization have their sights set on October baseball once again.

"We're here to win," said Manoah. "It's a lot of high expectations and a lot of hard work that has to go in, and to shoot for anything less (than a World Series championship), it would just be disrespectful."

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