TORONTO -- As the Blue Jays try to inject life into baseball’s lowest-scoring offense, some uncomfortable conversations are needed.
The easy ones are obvious. This team needs power, preferably in the form of a star outfielder, and the rotation could use another sturdy veteran, too. Those are just your annual, run-of-the-mill needs, though. The Blue Jays need to dig deeper than that, into the core of this roster.
That conversation keeps landing on second base, where Ernie Clement looked spectacular for the first four months of the season (.738 OPS), but faded from Aug. 1 on (.442 OPS). Vladimir Guerrero Jr. isn’t going anywhere, Andrés Giménez is too valuable defensively, Kazuma Okamoto is a necessary power threat and their catching tandem is truly great, so in the simplest of terms, second base is what’s left.
The big question: Is Ernie Clement the starter at 2B?
By August and September, Clement was worn out. He’ll be the last person to say that out loud, but even manager John Schneider wondered aloud, late in the year, if he should have given Clement more off-days down the stretch. Clement’s playing style, coming off a deep World Series run in 2025 and a World Baseball Classic in early ‘26, would wear out anyone.
The first question, then, is whether Clement walks into next season as the starter.
“He’s got to earn every bit of that,” general manager Ross Atkins said. “It’s not just writing down, ‘OK, we’re covered,’ but he always has [earned it]. When he’s been given an opportunity, he’s run with it. We’re always trying to complement every player the best that we can. Ernie can be an everyday, impactful player. He can also be a player who plays [most] games and plays at a really high level, and because we’re such a good team, he isn’t the guy that’s being penciled in every day.”
Perhaps that question is too narrow, though.
We know that Clement can play every spot on the infield, and while his experience in the corner outfields is fairly limited as a pro, he’s the type of athlete worth betting on in “new” spots. If Clement were to slide into a superutility role, that would allow Schneider to rotate the DH job, which the Blue Jays are eager to do. Okamoto and Guerrero, in particular, could benefit from this.
The “starting second baseman” tag feels too rigid here, and if that isn’t Clement going into 2027, that’s no knock on him. There would still be a pathway for him to appear in 125-plus games, and if that allows the Blue Jays to chase an offensive upgrade, it’s just another way for Clement to show his unique value to this organization.
Which free agents would be worth this conversation?
A theory: If Jazz Chisholm Jr. were entering free agency as a Marlin, not a Yankee, Blue Jays fans would be much more attracted to the idea.
The 28-year-old Chisholm is coming off a down year offensively after a 30-30 season in 2025 with the Yankees, but his appeal to the Blue Jays should be obvious here, especially given the likelihood he could sign a short-term deal and try to re-enter free agency around his age 30-31 season.
In 2027, the Blue Jays plan to obsess over baserunning, which is one of Chisholm’s trademarks. Elite baserunning and above-average defense are a great starting point -- and a very “Blue Jays” profile -- so it’s all about whether Chisholm could recapture his power upside. If the Blue Jays believe that answer is “yes,” Chisholm represents the exact type of player worth shaking up the infield for.
Another small factor worth mentioning: Schneider handles big personalities well. It’s easy to envision Chisholm thriving in that environment.
Brandon Lowe represents another option, coming off a peak season at 32. After back-to-back seasons with 30-plus homers, the power is clearly there. The real head-scratcher is how Lowe’s defense swung from being very poor to being truly exceptional last season, so the Blue Jays would need to factor in how they project that into Lowe’s mid-30s.
Further down the list, you’ll find Gleyber Torres, who is coming off a down year with just eight homers and a .727 OPS over 96 games with the Tigers. Torres will be 30 when next season begins, but at this point, with negative baserunning value and average defense at best, is this a player worth disrupting Clement for?
This is about the big picture, not a simple “yes” or “no” call with Clement starting at second. Any success this team has in 2027, he’ll be part of, but that could take on a different look that we’re used to.