Marcus Semien for MVP. Robbie Ray for the Cy Young. MLB award finalists highlight the Blue Jays’ off-season challenge

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This article was published 08/11/2021 (1461 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CARLSBAD, CALIF.—Based solely on the year-end awards, one might be led to believe the Blue Jays were one of Major League Baseball’s powerhouse teams in 2021.

The Jays had two of the top three vote-getters for the American League most valuable player award in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Marcus Semien. They also had the presumed favourite for the Cy Young in veteran left-hander Robbie Ray.

The only potential snub, if you really want to call it that, from Monday’s announcement by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America was that, unlike a year ago, Charlie Montoyo did not finish in the top three for manager of the year. Instead, it was Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash, Houston’s Dusty Baker and Seattle’s Scott Servais getting the honours.

Less surprising was Alek Manoah landing outside the top three for AL rookie of the year. Manoah had numbers that warranted consideration, including a 3.22 ERA across 111 2/3 innings, but his case was hampered by the fact that he did not debut until late May. Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena is the favourite over teammate Wander Franco and Houston’s Luis Garcia, with the winners set to be announced next week.

While post-season teams are usually the ones with this many candidates for the major awards, the Jays finished one game back of the Boston Red Sox for the second wild card. Now general manager Ross Atkins faces the daunting task of improving a roster while faced with the possibility of losing two of its biggest contributors.

Semien and Ray, who received qualifying offers from the Jays on Sunday, will be a major topic of conversation as the annual general managers’ meetings get underway here on Tuesday. Neither one is expected to sign any time soon, but Semien has already been linked to the Seattle Mariners and it shouldn’t be long before their asking prices become known. Both will be expensive.

Ray, who went 13-7 with a 2.84 ERA this past season, figures to land a four- or five-year deal with projections ranging anywhere from $105 million to $130 million (U.S.). On Nov. 17, he’ll likely edge out New York’s Gerrit Cole and Chicago’s Lance Lynn for the Cy Young.

Semien will be in line for similar term after he belted a career-high 45 home runs in 2021, with estimates ranging anywhere from $95 million to $140 million. He’s expected to finish third in MVP voting, behind Guerrero and heavy favourite Shohei Ohtani.

Factoring in those gaudy salary figures, it seems almost impossible that the Jays will be able to sign both, but they should be among the top contenders for at least one. The GM meetings will provide Atkins with some clarity about who his top competition will be, while also presenting an opportunity to lay the groundwork for viable alternatives through free agency and trade.

The free-agent market likely won’t see much movement until a new collective agreement is signed, but trades should be a different story.

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Already on Monday, word leaked via MLB Network’s Jon Heyman that Cincinnati will be fielding calls on ace Luis Castillo, while a slew of other big names will be added to the list in the coming days.

Players previously expected to be available this off-season included Cleveland’s José Ramírez, Cincinnati’s Sonny Gray, Oakland’s Matt Chapman and Matt Olson, Minnesota’s Byron Buxton, Arizona’s Ketel Marte and Minnesota’s Josh Donaldson. The free-agent class is deeper than it was a year ago, and it appears the trade market might be too, which bodes well for buyers such as the Jays.

Atkins has a lot of items to cross off his to-do list this off-season, and the GM meetings are as good a place as any to get started.

Whether it’s re-signing Semien or Ray, or finding replacements, the year-end awards demonstrate that the Jays have big shoes to fill next year regardless of who ends up taking their cash.

Gregor Chisholm is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @GregorChisholm or reach him via email: gchisholm@thestar.ca