TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays lost to the Cleveland Indians 3-0 on Wednesday in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.
It’s the second straight year Toronto has made it to the ALCS and come up short. Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins and team president Mark Shapiro have several issues to address to take Toronto back to the World Series for the first time since 1993.
Here are five key storylines heading into the off-season:
JOSE AND EDWIN
Veteran sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion are up for free agency this off-season and it’s not clear whether they’ll re-sign or test the open market.
Encarnacion, 33, led the Blue Jays with 42 homers, 127 RBIs and also had a .263 batting average. Bautista, 36, battled some injuries this year and finished with 22 homers, 69 RBIs and a .234 average.
Neither Bautista nor Encarnacion wanted to address their future plans after the game.
“I don’t want to make this about myself,” Bautista said after losing the ALCS. “I don’t really feel that I’m in the proper state of mind to be talking about that. Obviously I know it’s a possibility but we’ll see what happens.”
VIDEO: Gibbons hopes Bautista, Encarnacion are back for next year
OTHER FREE AGENTS
Bautista and Encarnacion may be the biggest Blue Jays headed to free agency, but they won’t be alone. A total of 12 players from Toronto’s 2016 roster have expiring contracts.
Veteran knuckleballer R.A. Dickey and his preferred catcher Josh Thole, utility infielder Darwin Barney, outfielder Michael Saunders, relief pitchers Gavin Floyd, Jason Grilli, Joaquin Benoit, Scott Feldman, Brett Cecil, and catcher Dioner Navarro also have expiring deals.
Of those contracts, it’s most likely the Blue Jays will pursue Cecil, one of the few left-handed pitchers in Toronto’s bullpen. The 30-year-old Cecil struggled at the start of the season but finished with a 3.93 earned-run average and 45 strikeouts over 36 2/3 innings pitched.
“We would love to have everybody back,” said third baseman Josh Donaldson. “We would love to have Bats back. We would love to have Eddie back.
“These guys have been the faces of this franchise for many years now.”
VIDEO: Toronto Blue Jays Manager John Gibbons says it takes a lot to get to the top, but hopes the team can take that next step.
SANCHEZ’S ONGOING DEVELOPMENT
One of the biggest surprises in Toronto’s season was pitcher Aaron Sanchez, who successfully transition from a reliever to a starter. He, along with good friend Marcus Stroman, were two workhorses in the Blue Jays’ rotation.
Sanchez finished his first full season as a starter with over 200 innings pitched and avoided being sent back to the bullpen even though Toronto’s management team started the season believing he should have a cap on his innings. The 24-year-old Sanchez earned all-star honours and finished with a 15-2 record with a league-best 3.00 ERA.
How Sanchez trains in the off-season could turn him into the Blue Jays’ ace for the foreseeable future.
MANAGEMENT TEAM
After Wednesday’s loss, Shapiro and Atkins confirmed that manager John Gibbons would be back in the dugout in 2017, with his contract expiring at the end of that season.
This comes despite the widely held belief that Gibbons was on the hot seat until Toronto’s post-season run.
Still, just because Gibbons is back doesn’t mean his coaching staff won’t change. Some tweaks may be coming to Gibbons’s coaches.
HEALING UP
The regular season took its toll on Toronto, with several players missing time with injuries.
Second baseman Devon Travis aggravated a bone bruise in his right knee in Game 1 of the ALCS and missed the rest of the series. Relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit tore a calf muscle in the final week of the regular season and missed the playoffs.
Although he still pitched well throughout the post-season – including a six-inning, three-run performance on Wednesday – Marco Estrada reportedly played through a herniated disk in his back.
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