Behind-the-scenes changes that can help push Blue Jays over the top

One of the most important is Marc Tramuta, who takes over as amateur scouting director. While the Blue Jays have the eighth overall pick in this year's draft, they simply haven't produced enough top prospects since drafting Alek Manoah in 2011.

Another key person is Justin Lehr, the Blue Jays new minor-league pitching director. Lehr comes to the Blue Jays from the Giants, where he was highly regarded.

While the Blue Jays have a strong major league pitching department, the same cannot be said about their minor league system, only six of the 34 hurlers they used in 2024 were developed in the system, with four of them no longer in the organization, with eight others undergoing tommy john surgery.

Former major league infielder and manager of the Cincinnati Reds David Bell joined the BBlue Jays in November as vice president of baseball operations. His main duties will include overseeing a farm system that has struggled to keep up in recent years.

The biggest addition is arguably David Popkins, who takes over as the new hitting coach following the dismissal of Guillermo Martinez in October. The Blue Jays never really found their power stroke last year, with only Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hitting more than 20 home runs.

Popkins joins fellow new major league coaches Graham Johnson, Lou Iannotti, and Sam Greene, as the BBlue Jays look to get both their offence and their bullpen back on track.

The first full squad workout is February 18th.