Blue Jays head to Meetings with work to do

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Blue Jays have arrived at Major League Baseball’s annual Winter Meetings, and now it’s time to start checking off some items on what has turned out to be a very lengthy to-do list.

Toronto’s offseason has been relatively quiet so far, with the only major move coming last month when the club signed Kendrys Morales to a three-year contract. That was the first of what should become a flurry of moves, and the expectation is that a lot of the work will get done here at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.

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Top free agents Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista are still on the board while Toronto has to fill holes at both corner-outfield spots, first base and at least a couple of arms in the bullpen. There’s still plenty of time to get things done this offseason, but at the very least the Washington area will be the site where the groundwork gets laid for 2017.

“You’re always close, but nothing is done until it’s done,” general manager Ross Atkins said this week when asked if he expects to make some moves at the Winter Meetings. “It’s really hard to say how I see them going, but I feel like with Morales here that we’re in a good position to stay aggressive on the players that we feel are closer to ideal fits.”

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