The Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes continues to be the most captivating storyline of the Hot Stove season, with the situation perhaps set to come to a dramatic conclusion during the Winter Meetings, which begin on Monday in Nashville.

While clubs such as the Dodgers, Giants and Cubs have consistently been discussed as contenders for Ohtani, along with the Angels, one other under-the-radar suitor has begun to gain some steam in the public conversation. That would be the Blue Jays.

• The latest Shohei Ohtani rumors

A few different reports in recent days have identified them as being in the mix for the two-way superstar. One from ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Friday (subscription required) labeled Toronto as one of the teams known to still be involved in the bidding.

So why would the Blue Jays make sense for Ohtani? Here are five reasons.

1. They need to take advantage of this competitive window

Not long ago, it appeared that the sky was the limit for this era of Blue Jays baseball. The organization developed a wave of young talent and has been aggressive about supplementing it through both free agency and trades in an effort to bring Toronto (and Canada more generally) its first World Series title since back-to-back championships in 1992-93.

But while the team has generally been successful over the past four seasons, it’s hard not to feel frustrated and unfulfilled about the ultimate results. The Blue Jays have not won more than 92 games in a season during that stretch (though the 2020 season was shortened), nor have they captured an AL East title, finishing higher than third just once. While expanded playoff fields have resulted in three trips to October, none led to even a single postseason game victory. Toronto was swept out of the Wild Card round in 2020, ‘22 and ‘23.