The Blue Jays are staring at another crucial offseason, and the pitching staff is once again the center of the conversation.
Toronto’s 2026 season ended in disappointment after a trip to the World Series in 2025, and the front office is being pushed toward major moves this winter. The biggest need is clear: healthy arms. The Blue Jays are trying to sort out which pitching issues are just bad luck and which ones can actually be managed.
“Some injuries, you can see coming. When the 42-year-old Max Scherzer runs into a few IL stints, no one should be surprised.
When José Berríos has Tommy John surgery after not missing a start for nearly a decade, it's terribly unfortunate, but we all understand the realities of baseball and the limitations of the human elbow. The Blue Jays are trying to find that line now between bad luck and controllable variables," MLB.com's Keegan Matheson wrote.
Right now, Toronto’s rotation picture still has plenty of uncertainty, but there is an expected starting group to open the year. If Cody Ponce is healthy by Opening Day, the Blue Jays are projected to roll out Dylan Cease, Trey Yesavage, Jose Soriano, and Ponce in a four-man setup. Berrios is expected to return eventually, though his health remains a major concern.
“So, as long as Cody Ponce is healthy when Opening Day comes around, they will be running a four-man rotation as is: Dylan Cease, Trey Yesavage, Jose Soriano, and Cody Ponce. Eventually, the team will welcome back Jose Berrios, but it has been a rough go of things in terms of his health," SI's Maddy Dickens wrote.
Even with that group in place, CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa sees a massive swing still on the table for Toronto: a run at Tarik Skubal.
“Skubal is the best starting pitcher to hit free agency since Gerrit Cole in 2019. He showed few long-lasting effects from the NanoScope elbow surgery in May and remains a capital-A Ace with terrific surface stats and under-the-hood performance indicators.
Skubal brings four swing-and-miss pitches to the table (four-seamer, changeup, slider, curveball), a near MLB-best ability to limit exit velocity, and elite strike-throwing ability (MLB's third-lowest walk rate since 2023). Build an ace starter in a lab and he would look a lot like Skubal.
He'll play the entire 2027 season at age 30, and given the things teams can do with pitchers these days, Skubal figures to remain a frontline starter for most of a long-term contract,” Axisa wrote.
If Toronto could pull that off, it would be the biggest move of the offseason and would give the club a true front-line duo alongside Dylan Cease.
The hurdle, of course, is competition and timing. The Blue Jays would have to keep Skubal from going back to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the outcome could also hinge on his own preference as well as what happens during the MLB lockout.
Still, the goal is obvious. Toronto wants back in the World Series picture, and signing the best starting pitcher in baseball would be a direct way to push in that direction.
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The catch is that the profile is not a simple one. Happ still handled fastballs well, but he had trouble against right-handed pitching and off-speed stuff, which leaves Toronto weighing how much offensive bounce-back there might be if he changes scenery. If the Blue Jays are going to make him part of the lineup picture, they would be betting on a player whose glove remains a major asset while the bat still has something to prove. [Read more 🡒]