The Toronto Blue Jays should make a priority of putting their payroll to work this off-season and look to fill positions of need by spending in free agency or taking on contracts, says FOX Sports and MLB insider Jon Morosi. 

Morosi joined Dean Blundell & Co. on Sportsnet 590 The Fan Thursday morning and said that the Blue Jays should first look to the free agent market to address holes at first base and outfield. 

“When you have, I believe, the largest attendance increase in MLB from ’15 to ’16, I think your best option is to use some of that money in free agency. 

“For example, with the outfield, Dexter Fowler is out there, and he’s a very, very good fit for what they need.  So my belief is the Jays’ first choice would be to sign him rather than give up a Marcus Stroman or a top prospect or a collection of top prospects to get an Adam Eaton.” 

Free agency is not the only option for the Blue Jays, according to Morosi.  Other names which have been floated as possible options for the Blue Jays are Jose Abreu, a 29-year-old first baseman who batted .293 for the Chicago White Sox this past season, and J.D. Martinez of the Detroit Tigers who had the third-best OPS of any outfielder in the major leagues in 2016.  Either would be a good fit for Toronto, said Morosi, despite the fact that they’re both right-handed.  Given how aggressively both those teams, and especially the White Sox, have been shopping the players this off-season, the Jays might be able to make valuable deals. 

“Abreu has multiple years of control and more money due than J.D. does, and this is where you look at it and can really put your payroll to work.  If the White Sox are anxious about where they’re going to trade him and they’re not sure, one thing the Jays can say is, ‘Listen, we’ve got the payroll, we can take the whole contract, that is value which should lessen the number of prospects I have to give back to you.'” 

Abreu is currently in salary arbitration with the White Sox and under team control through 2019.  Through arbitration, he is expected to earn something like $12 million in 2017 with raises for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. 

Whether it’s through money-heavy trades or outright free agency deals, Morosi feels Toronto is best positioned to boost their roster by spending. 

“The Jays clearly need to, I believe, put their revenue advantages to work here.  They’ve done a phenomenal job the last couple of years in particular there,” said Morosi. “ This is when you can really take advantage of the market.  Sign some free agents and then protect what minor-league depth and young position player and pitching depth that you have.  I’m quite sure that that’s Mark Shapiro’s and Ross Atkins’s first choice.”