The Toronto Blue Jays are still looking for starting pitching

After missing out on Roki Sasaki, the Blue Jays «remain involved in» the starting pitching market, Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith writes.

The near-misses on Sasaki and Burnes in particular have only added to what has been a frustrating 14 months for the Blue Jays, who have continually come up on short on several high-profile free agent pursuits in the last two off seasons.

Toronto Blue Jays' current starting five consists of Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt, Bowden Francis, and Yariel Rodriguez

Alek Manoah also pitched reasonably well in five starts before undergoing Tommy John surgery, and he is aiming to be back in the rotation by August.

Adding another starter, of course, would only deepen and help solidify this group. Bringing a new starter into the rotation would push Rodriguez into relief duty, thus addressing another need by bringing another quality arm into the bullpen mix.

Jack Flaherty is reportedly open to a shorter-term contract with opt-outs, though such a deal would still require a sizable average annual value.

Nick Pivetta is surely also looking for a significant salary, plus he would also cost the Blue Jays $500K in int'l pool money and the team's second-highest pick in the 2025 draft since Pivetta rejected Boston's qualifying offer.

Obtaining a starter in a trade might be more of a feasible path for the Toronto Blue Jays if they instead opted to spend more heavily in offense, such as rumored targets Anthony Santander or Pete Alonso.

In terms of other expenditures this offseason, the Blue Jays also signed Jeff Hoffman to a three-year, $33MM deal, and took on the remaining $97.5MM on Andres Gimenez's contract after acquiring the second baseman from the Guardians.

Another $11MM was also taken on in the form of Myles Straw's contract in yesterday's trade with Cleveland for $2MM in international bonus pool space, which already looks like a misstep since that $2MM was earmarked for the failed bid for Sasaki.

A rival executive described the Straw trade in pretty blunt terms to Blue Jays insider Ben Nicholson-Smith, calling the deal as:

Several holes and unanswered questions remain on the roster, and while there is still plenty of time in the offseason to make moves, Atkins' efforts won't be helped by the increased public perception that the Jays «need» to do something big.

Such a perception gives other front offices leverages in trade talks with the Jays, and player agents leverage in contract negotiations.

SOURCE: MLBTR Sportsnet
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