Blue Jays face tricky $8 million decision on fan favorite outfielder

The 2026 season for the Toronto Blue Jays has been a struggle. It's been very disappointing to see Vladimir Guerrero's major regression, and plenty of other key players have been underwhelming besides Guerrero.

But despite all of that, they're just 1.5 games out of the AL Wild Card entering September and will have a chance to go on a run this Fall. But looking beyond this season, the Blue Jays will have plenty of tough questions to answer during the offseason.

One of the most tricky one's they're going to have to answer revolves around fan-favorite outfielder Myles Straw. As Mark Feinsand of MLB.com highlighted, Straw has an $8 million club option on the table, and his future is very much up in the air.

Blue Jays have difficult $8M Myles Straw question to answer this offseason

"Straw is a huge presence in Toronto's clubhouse, however, giving the Blue Jays an interesting decision to make on his option," Feinsand writes.

That option is for $8 million for his age-32 season. Straw is a bit older and might not hold as much value due to Brett Bateman's arrival bringing a spark to the outfield.

But considering what he can bring to the Blue Jays, this is not going to be an easy decision for Toronto this upcoming offseason.

Straw has posted 0.6 bWAR this season across 245 at-bats with three homers, a .229 batting average, a .632 OPS, and a 74 OPS+.

He's not a good hitter, and his defense, while still a positive, might not be enough to make up for the lackluster offensive production.

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Still, the decision for the Blue Jays is going to be a difficult one. Keeping him at $8 million for one more season might not be a bad idea, even if he won't likely be worth such a price tag.

While his defense is something the Blue Jays should want to keep, his lackluster offensive numbers leave a lot to be desired.

If he could finish out the 2026 season strong with even a league-average month of September, keeping Straw would seem like a no-brainer.

But if his offensive woes continue, this is going to be a very fascinating decision for the Blue Jays' front office once the 2026 season comes to a close.

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