The Toronto Blue Jays enter the offseason facing difficult decisions about how to rebuild their roster after a disappointing end to the season. With several veterans approaching free agency, the front office must determine which players remain part of the club’s plans and where it needs to find reinforcements before attempting to return to contention in 2027.

The starting rotation figures to be one of the most important areas of focus. Toronto needs dependable innings and greater consistency from its starters, while also weighing whether familiar faces can provide the best path forward. As the championship series wage on, the Blue Jays’ front office can’t do much but strategize around impending free agencies.

“Until the Blue Jays can tear up the floors and begin to renovate this roster via free agency and trades, they’re stuck watching postseason baseball like the rest of us,” Keegan Matheson wrote for MLB.com . “These coming weeks will be spent obsessing over how they can squeeze every bit of extra potential out of the players already on this roster.”

But one of the most consequential upcoming decisions will involve former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, whose season ended with a setback after he had worked to establish himself in Toronto’s rotation.

In his first public comments about Bieber after the season ended, general manager Ross Atkins offered a sympathetic assessment of the right-hander.

Toronto Blue Jays Face Shane Bieber Decision After Unfortunate Setback

Bieber finished the regular season with a 4.03 ERA across 18 starts for Toronto this season, shortly after he joined the team and helped fuel a Cinderella run to the World Series last year. But a late-season injury setback complicated his picture heading into free agency.

Atkins issued an apology to the pitcher after that turn, but suggested it did not rule out a return to the team for Bieber.

“Shane has been awesome,” Atkins said during his end of year press conference, according to the Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm . “We’re sorry, too, that he had the setback at the end of this year. I felt like he got into a good spot and that was unfortunate. We’ll work through a process.”

Bieber’s history makes the Blue Jays’ calculus on a potential reunion pretty compelling. He won the 2020 AL Cy Young Award with the Cleveland Guardians and has previously demonstrated the ability to lead a rotation. However, his recent injury history means the Blue Jays must weigh that upside against the uncertainty surrounding his availability.

Will Shane Bieber Return To The Toronto Blue Jays?

Atkins and the Blue Jays will have little choice but to run a thorough process on their free agency options after injuries plagued the pitching staff this season.

“It’s a safe bet the Jays will look to add at least one starter this off-season,” Chisholm added. “That could involve bringing back a familiar face such as Bieber or Kevin Gausman on a one-year deal, or targeting a higher-tier free agent such as San Diego Padres right-hander Michael King.”

A reunion with Bieber would offer continuity, but it would also require confidence that he can avoid another interruption. Toronto must balance that possibility against the appeal of pursuing healthier or more established alternatives on the market.

For now, Atkins can only really issue an apology that things didn’t work out better for Bieber and the team this year.