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It’s been more than four months since the Blue Jays flew their separate ways for the winter when a disappointing 76-win season came to an end on the first day of October.

Since then, general manager Ross Atkins has been busy tinkering and adjusting an aging and injury-riddled roster.

The big changes most fans were hoping for? Not happening.

Instead, there’s been a focus on not only depth at the big-league level, but overall depth throughout the organization.

While that has been accomplished to a certain degree, the question everyone is asking is: Are the Blue Jays a contender again?

After all, that is the stated goal of the front office.

The answer probably depends on your definition of a contender, but once you factor in the return to health of a number of key players, projection models see the current roster landing in the range of 84 wins, which is to say they’re a fringe wild-card contender.

With pitchers and catchers reporting to Dunedin on the horizon next week, we’ll delve into each area of the roster this week and try to answer some pressing questions that will be facing the Jays in 2018.

MONDAY: Infield

TUESDAY: Outfield

THURSDAY: Rotation

FRIDAY: Outlook for 2018

It doesn’t take much time to point out the bright spots from 2017.

Justin Smoak’s breakout season was one, Marcus Stroman was another, and the bullpen was a pleasant surprise.

Worked hard right from the get-go due to injuries and poor performance in the rotation, manager John Gibbons was forced to go to his bullpen early and often in games last season. Blue Jays relievers ended up throwing an American League-high 596.2 innings.

Gibbons has noted repeatedly that the effects of heavy workloads like the one his bullpen endured often don’t show up until the following season, which has warning flags attached to the likes of Ryan Tepera (career-high 73 appearances), Danny Barnes (career-high 66 innings) and even Roberto Osuna, who has worked 207.2 innings over his first three seasons, the eighth-heaviest workload for a reliever across baseball.

There’s no doubt the bullpen was a nice surprise last year, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t questions heading into 2018.

Will Roberto Osuna’s 2018 be less dramatic than last season?

Osuna just celebrated his 23rd birthday as a rich man, seeing his pay go from $552,400 last year to $5.3 million in his first year of arbitration this winter.

Arbitration pays for saves and Osuna has racked those up in spades, saving 95 games over his first three seasons, including a career high 39 in 2017.

But Osuna was far from perfect, blowing 10 saves, the most in the majors, and struggling to an inflated 3.38 ERA despite terrific peripherals and a 1.74 FIP.

While tinkering with his deep repertoire, Osuna posted an ugly 8.10 ERA in 17 appearances between July 29 and the first week of September.

He also went through a well-publicized bout with anxiety that forced him to take a couple of days off in June.

Even through all that, Osuna remains one of the best closing options in the game, striking out a gaudy 11.7 K/9 of the batters he faces and walking a minuscule 1.3 BB/9.

Expect to hear Osuna’s name around the trade deadline if the Jays aren’t in the postseason race.

Who’s getting the ball to the closer?

Thanks to a slow-moving free-agent market, this could change over the next couple of weeks, but Tepera and Barnes are currently in line for the high-leverage innings in front of Osuna.

Both are coming off solid seasons, too, as Tepera starting striking more guys out on his way to a 3.59 ERA, and Barnes used his fastball-changeup combo to register a 3.55 ERA, despite allowing 11 home runs in 66 innings.

What’s missing from this mix currently is the depth needed to get through 162 games. Some of that was sent to the St. Louis Cardinals in the form of Dominic Leone (70.1 innings, 2.56 ERA) in order to acquire outfielder Randal Grichuk.

GM Ross Atkins found a scrap-heap gem last winter in veteran right-hander Joe Smith, who pitched well enough to be flipped to the Cleveland Indians at the trade deadline.

Expect Atkins to sift through that same bargain-bin relief market with the $10-15 million in resources that remain.

Signing a starter could also be a way to help the bullpen, as Joe Biagini would then eventually land back in a setup role by Opening Day.

Is Carlos Ramirez ready to throw high-leverage innings?

There’s really no such thing as a relief prospect because you never know what you’re going to get from year to year, and most of the best future relievers are still starters in the minors.

But Ramirez is an interesting case who started getting a whole lot of attention last summer, culminating in a September call-up.

After not allowing an earned run in 37.2 innings in Double-A and Triple-A, the converted outfielder’s major-league cameo went well, with a 2.70 ERA in 16.2 innings.

Ramirez doesn’t blow hitters away with velocity – he did give up three homers in September – but the right-hander has a wipeout slider and some helpful deception in his delivery.

Ramirez could be a key piece of this bullpen or he could be an afterthought by August if major-league hitters quickly figure him out.

If he continues to find a way, Ramirez will serve as important depth and his role could evolve as the season goes on.

Aaron Loup is the only veteran left-hander in the bullpen. Is another lefty needed?

Loup hands out as many hit-by-pitch bruises as anyone in baseball, but when the 30-year-old southpaw wasn’t plunking six batters last year, he was actually pitching pretty well.

One year after registering a 5.02 ERA out of the Jays’ bullpen, Loup spun his way to 3.75 mark in 57.2 innings, the most he’s thrown since 2014.

Loup is currently the only lefty guaranteed a bullpen spot, so adding a second southpaw would either have to come via the free-agent market or one of the two wild cards on the 40-man roster – Tim Mayza or Matt Dermody.

Mayza has shown excellent stuff (14.3 K/9 in 17 innings last season), but the results weren’t exactly there with a 6.88 ERA.

The FIP of 2.98 suggests Mayza could be something if he cuts his extreme 29.2 per cent line drive rate, but finding a veteran left-hander to complement Loup would be ideal.

How does this bullpen stack up with other contenders in the American League?

No bullpen in baseball stacks up with the New York Yankees’ deep group of power arms. 

They stand alone.

Even though they lost reliable setup man Bryan Shaw, the Cleveland Indians still boast a deep group of arms, led by the shutdown duo of Andrew Miller and Cody Allen.

The Boston Red Sox also have a strong bullpen led by Craig Kimbrel, while the Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins have all poured significant resources into their respective bullpens this winter.

Of the eight AL teams projected to finish at .500 or better as of today, you could argue the Jays’ relievers, on paper, would land seventh, ahead of only the Los Angeles Angels.

Despite it being a strength last season, the Jays’ bullpen isn’t exactly a deep collection of power arms when compared to others around baseball.