TOareaFan
Superstar
You only get compensatory draft picks (I believe) if you offer your own free agents a qualifying offer.....so, on 3 of the players mentioned there, you run the risk that they accept those offers and you get Jose, R.A. and Saunders back for more money on a one year deal than they may be worth and you eat up roster spots/dollars that might have been better allocated to making the team younger and more flexible.The Jays would get compensatory draft picks once some of these players leave due to free agency. However, these picks would take years to blossom.
The 2017 Jays would unlikely be as good as this year's edition, but there is still a chance.
A qualifying offer is a one year deal at the average of the top 120 salaries in MLB.