Blue Jays Among Teams Interested In Brandon Lowe

Brandon Lowe should be one of the most popular names in free agency this winter, having swatted 35 homers and finished as a Gold Glove finalist at second base in his lone season (to date) with the Pirates. The Blue Jays are among the teams showing early interest in the 32-year-old slugger, per Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The pair cautions that talks to this point have been preliminary, but it’s still worth noting the early interest. There’s a clear fit between the two parties. Toronto’s offense flatlined last year, with major steps back from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer (who’s now a free agent), Daulton Varsho (also a free agent), Ernie Clement, Davis Schneider and others. Injuries played a key role, too. Most notably, third baseman/outfielder Addison Barger logged only 28 plate appearances on the year, while catcher Alejandro Kirk was limited to 313 plate appearances. One year after scoring the fourth-most runs (796) in MLB and tying for the 11th-most homers (191), the 2026 Jays ranked last in the sport with 648 runs scored and 152 long balls. Blue Jays hitters ranked ninth in team batting average (.247) but 25th in on-base percentage (.310) and 26th in slugging percentage (.381). Toronto had baseball’s second-lowest strikeout rate (19.1%) but also the game’s second-worst walk rate (7.6%). With key bats like Guerrero, Springer, Varsho, Barger and Kirk either regressing or missing substantial time with injury — to say nothing of Bo Bichette’s departure — the Jays’ lineup was too often a pushover. Bringing Lowe into the fold would add a credible 30-homer bat to the mix and do so at a position of need. Clement is the favorite for reps at second base right now, but he’s coming off a middling .259/.285/.364 batting line (80 wRC+) in a career-high 621 plate appearances. Even at his best in 2024-25, Clement was a below-average hitter (.271/.301/.402; 96 wRC+) whose well-rounded skill set hinged on nearly average offense with plus defense and decent baserunning. He took a step back in all those regards this past season. Signing Lowe would allow the Jays to return Clement to more of a complementary/bench role. He could spell Lowe against lefties on occasion, back up Andrés Giménez and Kazuma Okamoto at shortstop and third base (respectively), and perhaps log some occasional work in left field. He’d give skipper John Schneider a versatile defender on the bench with enough speed to be a pinch-running option and good contact skills for late, situational pinch-hitting needs. Because Lowe is 32 years old (33 early next July), he’s unlikely to command an especially long-term deal. His power output might give him a chance at four years, but players in this age bracket are most often capped at three years on the open market. There are a few exceptions (e.g. Alex Bregman, Freddie Freeman, Kyle Schwarber, Starling Marte), but history and precedent suggest that a heavy three-year deal is the likelier outcome. Lowe received and is all but sure to reject a $23.15MM qualifying offer from Pittsburgh. He’d therefore cost the Jays their second- and fifth-highest picks in next year’s draft, as well as $1MM of space from their international amateur bonus pool for 2027. As can be seen in MLBTR’s Payroll Tracker, the Jays finished the 2026 season with a payroll just north of $276MM. Next year’s payroll has $160.625MM guaranteed to nine players — a figure that doesn’t include their eight arbitration-eligible players. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects that octet to for a combined $28.3MM in salary, though certain members of the group are non-tender candidates (e.g. Schneider, Josh Smith and perhaps Clement). There’s room to add a $20MM+ annual salary for Lowe, but the Jays could also use help in the outfield, in the rotation and in the bullpen, which gives GM Ross Atkins a lengthy to-do list as he looks to turn the page on a calamitous 2026 campaign that saw his team fall from Game 7 of the 2025 World Series to a 79-83 record that tied the O’s for last place in the AL East.