The Blue Jays have a clear path to making noise this offseason, and one MLB insider thinks they could go all the way to the top of the market.
Toronto is coming off a first-to-worst run in the AL East, and the front office is now staring at a rotation that needs help. Shane Bieber and Max Scherzer are headed for free agency, leaving a pair of openings the club has to address. That’s where Tarik Skubal enters the picture.
On a recent episode of The Fan Pregame with Ailish and Justin, MLB insider Ben Nicholson-Smith said the Blue Jays are positioned to make a serious run at the former two-time Cy Young winner.
“We know they (the Blue Jays) are one of the few teams with the willingness and resources to go after a player (Skubal) of his calibre,” Nicholson-Smith said.
Skubal would be the kind of addition that changes the conversation immediately. The 29-year-old left-hander has been one of the most dominant arms in baseball over the past few seasons, and his résumé backs it up. Over seven years, he has gone 66-44 with a 3.02 ERA and 1.02 WHIP, piling up 1075 strikeouts in 925.1 innings.
He arrived at the 2026 offseason after back-to-back Cy Young seasons in 2024 and 2025, though an injury in 2026 may have cost him a third straight trophy. Even so, he still put together elite numbers: a 12-7 record, 2.72 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 186 strikeouts in 158.2 innings across 26 starts with the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers.
If Toronto landed him, the rotation would look a lot deeper in a hurry. Skubal would slot in alongside Cy Young award nominee Dylan Cease, José Soriano and Trey Yesavage, giving the Blue Jays a dangerous foursome and adding a needed left-handed presence to a staff that has leaned right-handed in recent seasons.
There’s also the simple reality of the market. If the Blue Jays can bring Skubal in, they wouldn’t just be upgrading their own rotation - they’d also be keeping him out of the hands of another contender that could cross paths with them in the postseason.
One more wrinkle: Skubal was spotted working out with Blue Jays pitcher Bowden Francis this past week. That might not mean much, but it’s enough to get people wondering how real this fit could be.
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