The Toronto Blue Jays are looking to improve many aspects of their team, including their starting rotation, heading into 2025.
On paper, the Blue Jays have a strong rotation that consists of veterans Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman, and Chris Bassitt, along with some younger talent in Alek Manoah and Bowden Francis. Yariel Rodriguez remains in the fold, though he may be better served in a bullpen role next season.
Based on the names thrown out, it may seem as though the Blue Jays may not need a starting pitcher, but with trade rumours surrounding Bassitt and the uncertainty regarding Manoah, they seem keen on adding one. Here’s a look at six of the best that are currently available in free agency.
Corbin Burnes
Without any doubt, Corbin Burnes is the best pitcher available this offseason. The 30-year-old is coming off of a season in which he put up a 2.92 ERA in 32 starts with the Baltimore Orioles and is in line to earn a very lucrative contract.
Though signing players who are 30 or older to long-term deals always comes with risk, Burnes has had a lengthy period of success and doesn’t appear to be slowing down whatsoever. Blue Jays fans would rightfully be ecstatic if General Manager Ross Atkins were somehow able to lure him in.
Max Fried
Much like Burnes is the best pitcher available in free agency, Max Fried is second. The 30-year-old is coming off of a “down” year by his standards, in which he had a 3.25 ERA over 29 starts.
Fried, a three-time Gold Glove winner, was actually linked to the Blue Jays this morning on The JD Bunkis Podcast. Landing him still feels like a bit of a stretch, but it would certainly make the Jays rotation one of the best in the MLB.
Blake Snell
For the second straight year, Blake Snell is hitting free agency. The two-time Cy Young Award winner expected to sign a massive deal last offseason, but the market wound up being a lot less friendly than he had expected. Instead, he settled on a one-year deal with the San Francisco Giants.
What seems to scare teams away from Snell is that he can be rather consistent. He also has a tendency to walk a lot of batters, which has resulted in some front offices showing hesitancy. With that said, however, he owns a career ERA of 3.19 and would undoubtedly improve the Jays’ rotation.
Jack Flaherty
Though Jack Flaherty isn’t as big of a name as the three above, he has turned into a very reliable starting pitcher. The 29-year-old, who’s coming off of a World Series championship with the LA Dodgers, recorded a 3.17 ERA in 28 starts this season.
The 2024 season was a huge bounce-back for Flaherty, who had a career-worst ERA of 4.99 the year prior. He, like Snell, tends to be inconsistent, but if he can be anywhere close to the pitcher he was this season going forward, he’d be a great pickup.
Sean Manaea
If the Blue Jays wanted to go with a bit of a cheaper option, Sean Manaea is a name to keep an eye on. The 32-year-old recently opted out of his deal with the New York Mets and is one of the more interesting starting pitchers on the market.
Manaea was average, if not below average, in both the 2022 and 2023 seasons. That said, he’s always shown glimpses of being a very solid starting pitcher, and we saw just that in 2024 when he had a 3.47 ERA with a career-high 181.2 innings pitched.
Yusei Kikuchi
Could the Blue Jays reunite with an old friend in Yusei Kikuchi? Crazier things have happened, and he, like everybody else on this list, would help improve an already promising starting rotation.
While Kikuchi was a fine back-end starter for the Blue Jays in his 2+ seasons, he seemed to really unlock some untapped potential with the Houston Astros, as so many pitchers do. In 10 starts after being traded to Houston, the 33-year-old had a 2.70 ERA with 76 strikeouts in only 60 innings pitched. That hot run to end the season caught the attention of many teams around the league.
- You might also like:
- Blue Jays could be cutting ties with Romano and three others: report