The Toronto Blue Jays are very much in the mix for Tarik Skubal, and Ken Rosenthal says they can’t be brushed aside in what’s shaping up to be a massive sweepstakes.
“The Toronto Blue Jays “absolutely have to be taken seriously” in the Tarik Skubal Sweepstakes,” Rosenthal said on FoulTerritoryTV, adding, “They are a team that we should logically assume are involved, and they are involved,”
Rosenthal went on to say Toronto is among the clubs that could meet with Skubal in person next week in California. He mentioned the Padres as another possibility, along with the Mets and the Dodgers, per the New York Post.
From there, he floated the idea that the Dodgers could decide not to go deep on the length of a deal because of labor uncertainty and what’s ahead in the next CBA, while Toronto might be willing to go longer. “And who knows, maybe this is the year because of the labor uncertainty and what’s coming in the next CBA...that the Dodgers say, ‘We’re not going long with this guy, we’ll do four times 50 [million]’ and maybe Skubal is of the mind, ‘No, I want a longer deal.’
And maybe the Toronto Blue Jays, who offered Kyle Tucker 10 years, would be willing to do that. I don’t know.”
The betting market currently has the Mets as the favorite at +110, with the Dodgers close behind at +140.
Skubal, who is 29, is projected to land a contract in the $324 million to $400 million range. ESPN’s projection pegs him at eight years and $355 million, with a $44.6 million average annual value.
The price tag is expected to begin above Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s record $325 million deal with the Dodgers.
Rosenthal also pointed to Toronto’s appeal as a destination if the Blue Jays end up landing one of the sport’s biggest names. “At some point, maybe it’s not Skubal, maybe it’s down the line, [the Blue Jays] get one of these big guys because it’s a great place to play, they treat their players extremely well and they went to the World Series just in 2025,” he said. “There’s a lot to like there.”
In Other News...
Yankees Fans Suddenly Have A New Power Prospect To Watch
Kyle West gave Yankees fans a reason to keep one eye on the Arizona Fall League this fall. The 22-year-old outfielder earned a spot in the American League Fall Stars game after a productive run with the Salt River Rafters, where he showed the kind of power that can turn a prospect from a name in the system into a player worth tracking closely.
Over 21 games, West put together a .257/.361/.543 line with six home runs and 17 RBIs, but the number that really stood out was the one attached to his biggest blast. He launched a 462-foot homer, the longest in the AFL this season and the fifth-longest in league history, a reminder that his bat can leave a mark long before he reaches the Bronx. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Fans Just Got An Unwanted Reminder About Verdugo
The Red Sox are once again in the middle of an outfield conversation that has plenty of Yankee fans paying attention, even if they would rather not. Jarren Duran is reportedly being shopped, a topic that has been widely known around the GM Meetings, and it has naturally stirred memories of Bostons 2023 decision to move Alex Verdugo to New York.
For the Yankees, the comparison is an uncomfortable one because Duran and Verdugo share a similar profile as talented left-handed outfielders who flashed early promise before their careers took an unexpected turn. Verdugos stint in pinstripes did not go the way the Yankees hoped, so any reminder of that trade brings back a familiar question about whether Boston is again trying to move on from a player with a lot of talent and a lot of uncertainty attached. [Read more 🡒]
Brian Cashman Just Added To A Growing Yankees Injury Debate
The Yankees spent much of the 2026 season trying to patch together a roster that kept getting hit by injuries to major names like Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Gerrit Cole. At the GM Meetings, Brian Cashman acknowledged that the club did not communicate well enough about injuries during the year, a candid admission that only adds to a debate that has lingered around the organization for a while. Judges rib stress fracture became a particularly pointed example of how much uncertainty surrounded the teams injury updates.
Cashmans comments land in the middle of a larger pattern the Yankees have struggled to shake, with past injury situations often handled cautiously or with delays that left fans and observers wanting clearer answers. For a team that has spent so much time managing absences from key players, the issue is not just who gets hurt, but how the club explains what is happening and when. The next step for the Yankees is not only getting healthier, but proving they can handle the communication side of the equation better than they did this season. [Read more 🡒]