Toronto Blue Jays should consider signing these three players to contract extensions

The Blue Jays have been active in free agency during the first months of the off-season, but the club has been quiet on other fronts.

There hasn't been much talk of extensions in Blue Jays land yet this off-season, with the team in the running for impact players like Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette, but there are some intriguing candidates to stick around in Toronto for the long haul.

Gausman's first contract has been an unequivocal success, and doubling down is worth contemplating for the Blue Jays.

The veteran starter's bounce-back 2025 didn't take him to his 2022-23 levels, but it indicated that he hadn't entered a full decline phase just yet.

The Blue Jays have some medium-term rotation uncertainty, and Gausman could easily have some good years left.

It's possible the team could have reservations about a pitcher entering his age-35 season after throwing 223.2 total innings, including the playoffs.

It might pay to see him looking healthy and strong early in 2026 before starting any negotiations.

Teams have been willing to pay pitchers who are a bit long in the tooth recently, and a comparable to watch for Gausman might be Yu Darvish, who signed an extension covering his age 36-40 seasons before 2023.

Clement is the sweet spot for a contract extension in terms of proximity to free agency because he's arbitration-eligible for three more seasons.

A contract with the infielder could be a win-win that allows him to get financial security and a significant upgrade on his near-term income while the team buys out a couple of years of free agency.

Clement would hit free agency entering his age-33 season, minimizing his ability to land a big payday and possibly taking the sting out of forgoing the open market.

That all sounds intuitive, but the type of player Clement is complicates the situation.

Impressive playoff run aside, the infielder tends to produce slightly below-average offensive results while excelling with the glove.

That's a fine profile for an everyday player, but the defensive aging curve tends to be pretty steep beyond 30, and the majority of Clement's value comes from his fielding.

The Blue Jays already have him under team control through his age-32 season, and may not see much need to lock in seasons where his glove could decline and undermine his overall impact.

Of all of the players on this list, Varsho makes the most sense for an extension.

He plays a premium position extremely well, won't turn 30 until midway through 2026 and brings a left-handed power element that is rare in the Blue Jays organization.

There isn't an internal heir apparent in centerfield, and Varsho is essential to the team's defensive identity.

Since the beginning of the 2023 season, the Blue Jays rank first in the majors with 227 runs saved, and 23.1 per cent of that number provided by Varsho.

Statcast's Fielding Run Value has Toronto second (+109), with Varsho delivering 29.4 per cent of that total.

The 29-year-old's bat is also easier to believe in than ever. In just 71 games last season, he hit as many home runs (20) as he had in two seasons with the Blue Jays where he played at least 136 games each.

All that information sounds like a good argument for Varsho to get to free agency and cash in.

He has a rare skill set, and if he can show his 2025 offensive strides are the real deal, he's just one season away from a huge payday.

There are pretty good arguments for the Blue Jays to lock Varsho up as soon as possible, or let another team be the one to pay him handsomely into his 30s.

At this moment, each side could make the case that this is a good time to get a deal done, and both would be risking a significant misstep by putting pen to paper.