For the eight seasons he has been a member of the Blue Jays, Janssen has always been one of the more respected players.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
John Gibbons: Will he stay or will he go?
The 52-year-old Texan will never be a lame-duck manager thanks to a clause that states his contract automatically renews for another season on Jan. 1 of each year, providing him with a perpetual rolling two-year deal. In the two seasons since he returned to the job, Gibbons's record with Toronto sits at a middling 155-166, including 81-78 this season heading into Friday's game against the Baltimore Orioles. After a strong first half of the season, where the Blue Jays held down first place in the American League East for 48 days, the team plummeted over the course of the second half and finally fell out of playoff contention earlier this week. It falls primarily on the manager's shoulders when the team underperforms down the stretch, the most critical juncture of the season. But Gibbons was hamstrung by injuries and a general lack of depth on the bench, which is the responsibility of general manager Alex Anthopoulos (105 games for retread Juan Francisco after the injury to Brett Lawrie – please!). One senses that Gibbons has tired a bit from the daily rigmarole, but it is a good bet that if Anthopoulos is back next season, and there is nothing to indicate he won't, so too will the manager.
Casey Janssen: The closer's final act?
For the eight seasons he has been a member of the Blue Jays, Janssen has always been one of the more respected players within the Toronto clubhouse, a stand-up guy who never really fit the mode of the prototypical closer. Never one to blow away opposing batters with overwhelming speed, Janssen over the past three years as the ninth-inning man was able to get by more on guile and guts than anything else. But the writing is on the wall and Janssen, who is an unrestricted free agent at the season's close, is likely on his way out. That became clear when Gibbons started to rely more on the likes of rookie Aaron Sanchez in close-out situations after he was brought up to the team in July. Janssen is clearly on the downside of his career as the numbers show. In the first half of 2014, Janssen was great, with 14 saves in 16 save opportunities, a sparkling 1.23 earned run average where he held the opposition hitters to a .217 average. In the second half of the season, things began to fall apart as Janssen began to struggle with his pin-point control, which has always been his calling card. Janssen earned 10 saves in 13 save opportunities and his ERA ballooned to 7.06. Opposing batters were hitting at a .319 clip and he surrendered six home runs. Janssen will earn $4-million (U.S.) in 2014, certainly not an overwhelming paycheque. But so far the Blue Jays have not given any indication that they want Janssen back and he will likely be allowed to peddle his skills on the open market.
Brandon Morrow: Should he start, relieve, or be cut loose?
A pitching enigma if there ever was one. Every year, Blue Jay front-office types trip over themselves raving about the great potential that Morrow has to become one of the game's dominant starting pitchers, and every year the right-hander lands on the disabled list. Perhaps the Seattle Mariners had it right – turn the guy into a closer to try to protect him from injury. The Blue Jays have experimented with that this season after Morrow returned to the lineup in September following a lengthy layoff recovering from a torn tendon sheath in his right index finger. And they will revisit that notion during the off-season when they sit down to discuss Morrow's future. If the Blue Jays decide to pick up Morrow's option, his 2015 salary will increase to $10-million from the $8-million he will be paid this season, pretty good coin for a starting pitcher who has not been able to pitch more than 55 innings in either of the past two years because of injury. The Blue Jays could also just exercise the $1-million buyout option they have on his contract and be done with him, which is what will likely happen. Truth be told, the Blue Jays would like to exercise the buyout clause and then try to negotiate a new deal with 30-year-old and then toy with the option of turning Morrow into their closer in the likelihood that Janssen moves on. The main drawback to this is that Morrow has clearly stated his desire to remain a starting pitcher, so look for him to be wearing another jersey come next season.
Up the middle is a puzzle
When Maicer Izturis tore his knee apart after he slipped on the dugout stairs in Toronto's second road trip of the year in Baltimore, it started a chain reaction that hindered the Blue Jays all season. The second baseman was gone for the season and it soon became evident that the Blue Jays did not have a suitable backup plan. Brett Lawrie, the third baseman, was utilized at second (26 games) in a platoon setting before he was injured, and for the rest of the year the Blue Jays tried to make do with the likes of Munenori Kawasaki, Ryan Goins and Steve Tolleson to no real satisfaction. After Lawrie, who is probably better served as the everyday third baseman, Goins is the best overall defender, but his sub .200-batting average is tough to swallow. And if Anthony Gose is going to be the new starting centre fielder in place of Colby Rasmus, who is on his way out, it probably squeezes Goins out of a starting job. Gose has struggled to hit over .220 this season and it is unlikely Toronto can afford to carry two hitting lightweights such as Goins and Gose in the starting nine. There has also been talk about moving Jose Reyes, whose range at shortstop diminished somewhat, over to second next season, but there's no telling how the veteran would take to that. Besides, with Lawrie and his great range at third, it would take a lot of the defensive pressure off of Reyes.
Buehrle and Cabrera
Mark Buehrle surpassed the 200 innings-pitched plateau for an amazing 14th consecutive year, while Melky Cabrera is in line for a hefty pay raise after a rock-solid season in left field that was curtailed in early September when he broke the pinky finger on his right handle. The Blue Jays would like to be able to bring both back for 2015, but the question remains if they can afford to do so and still be able to add another power bat the team so desperately needs to be competitive. And for that reason it is anticipated that the Blue Jays will actively shop Buehrle's $19-million contract around in the off-season while making a play to keep Cabrera. Buehrle had a good season, finishing 13-10, but it was a struggle for him over the second half of the season and, at age 35, things aren't likely to get any easier. It would make perfect sense to try and trade Buehrle and then go big to try and bring back Cabrera, a free agent who was headed for a 200-hit season while excelling defensively in left field. With the likes of Aaron Sanchez and Daniel Norris expected to be battling for a starting spot in the rotation next year, Buehrle's loss would be easier to fill than Cabrera's.