As Blue Jays arrive at Winter GM Meetings, pitching will be a key priority

While Bo Bichette's free agency is the prime issue before Ross Atkins this winter, augmenting the pitching staff, even after Shane Bieber exercised his $16-million player option for 2026, is also a key priority, as both Scherzer and Bassitt are free agents.

As things stand, Bieber joins ace Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, rookie Trey Yesavage and Eric Lauer as the top internal candidates to start, with Bowden Francis, Easton Lucas, Adam Macko, Lazaro Estrada and prospect Ricky Tiedemann providing depth. Maybe they try stretching out Louis Varland, too.

That's a strong foundation, but in the hyper competitive AL East, and with Gausman turning 35, Bieber heading into his first full season post-Tommy John surgery, Berrios finishing the year on the injured list with elbow inflammation, Yesavage coming off a career-high in innings at 139.2 and Lauer having enjoyed his first full healthy year since 2022, the Blue Jays can't take anything for granted, and can use more impact, as well.

Yesavage's post-season performance showed that it's foolish to doubt him, but given that the development of young players is rarely linear, how confidently can the Blue Jays write him in for 30 starts?

Is Lauer ready for 30 starts, too? Can Francis, finally feeling better with the right shoulder that truncated his season, regain his form from the second half of 2024?

Factoring in all of that, targeting a starter at the top of the market and perhaps another mid-range arm makes sense, especially since the Blue Jays are aiming for another run at the World Series.

Notable, too, is that while Atkins was generally guarded in his comments last week, he did say that they «feel good about the free-agent market and the starting pitching area,» which «relative to most years, is a little bit better, seemingly.»

The Blue Jays will explore the markets of Dylan Cease (whom they tried to trade for last off-season), Ranger Suarez, Michael King and Tatsuya Imai.

Whether they get any of them or not, the other takeaway for the Blue Jays is in the power of their ability to spend deep into the off-season.

Not all teams are willing to do that, which can create opportunities for the Blue Jays depending on how certain markets play out.

Source: Sportsnet
Credit: Shi Davidi
Pitching a key priority as Blue Jays arrive at GM meetings