ORLANDO, Fla. -- This feels like a place to dream big.
Outside the window of the Blue Jays’ suite at the MLB Winter Meetings, you can see Walt Disney World for miles, all of its colors, castles and gondolas zipping through the air. Fresh off a dream season that fell just inches short, the Blue Jays want more.
They already have Dylan Cease. Why not Bo Bichette? Why not Kyle Tucker? Why not both?
Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins isn’t tipping his hand. He would go as far as confirming that Bichette and Tucker exist, but that’s about it. When asked about Bichette, Atkins steered away from detailing any conversations or when those happened. When asked about Tucker, the top position player on the market?
“Getting into the weeds on free agency is something that just sets me up to talk about too much of the market,” Atkins said.
This is Atkins’ game, and he’s good at it. This is why the Dylan Cease signing came out of nowhere in November and why last year’s addition of Andrés Giménez at the Winter Meetings caught everyone off guard. The Blue Jays rarely make the expected moves, and when they do -- like with Cease -- it can happen in surprising ways.
The Blue Jays’ front office is a good ship: no holes, no leaks.
There’s always a way to talk around the touchy subjects, though, whether it be in hypotheticals or more general terms. Bichette has spent a decade with this organization, growing from a high-schooler into a man. His three-run home run off Shohei Ohtani in Game 7 of the World Series was one of the greatest moments in this organization’s history. Had the Blue Jays won, only Joe Carter’s walk-off in 1993 would stand above it.
“He’s a great player. Incredible impact on this organization. We wouldn’t be having this discussion about that momentum without him,” Atkins said. “Not just this year, but over the last 10.”
On top of his talent, Bichette is a known commodity. He’s grown up with this organization, playing alongside Vladimir Guerrero Jr. since they were teenagers. He’s even played for manager John Schneider stretching back to the Minor Leagues. Free agency is always a gamble, especially when the stakes stretch into the hundreds of millions, but Bichette is the player who the Blue Jays have more information on than anyone.
“You would always choose that,” Atkins said, still keeping his tone hypothetical. “You would always choose to have more of a relationship and more engagement when you can.”
This conversation isn’t just about Bichette versus Tucker. Given that Bichette’s deal is expected to come in below Tucker’s, you have to consider what else the Blue Jays could do with that cash. Tucker is atop this market for a reason, though. He recently visited the Blue Jays’ complex in Dunedin, Fla., and fits their offense nearly perfectly.
The Blue Jays are on everyone’s radar, too. They’re no longer a plucky upstart trying to land a big fish. That’s ancient history by now. Everyone is looking to the Blue Jays wondering what they’ll do next and this has been building for years.
“There’s been a trajectory. It started before I was here, where it’s such an impressive market, impressive city, impressive nation and an exciting brand of baseball,” Atkins said. “Over time, lots of people -- most importantly, ownership -- have poured resources into the Toronto Blue Jays. Over time, it’s become more attractive. When you take the body of work and put it on the biggest stage of baseball, then there’s more attention and that turns into momentum.”
Sitting in the suite late Monday afternoon, Atkins said he didn’t feel like anything was “close," even though that’s a tough word to define around these times. Nothing was about to happen as reporters walked out of the room, as he put it. This is still tire-kicking season, but as the Blue Jays showed with their Cease deal, the market can jolt to life at any time.
Perhaps it’s a reunion with Bichette, which would be met with widespread approval from fans. Perhaps it’s Tucker, which would give the Blue Jays both the top pitcher and top hitter on the market. What a way to bounce back from that World Series loss.
It’s highly unlikely to be both, but just look out the window. The Winter Meetings are for dreamers.