Blue Jays are ‘monitoring’ the market for the NL Cy Young winner

After the Dodgers signed the offseason’s top free-agent pitcher, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, late last month, the market for No. 2 pitching free agent Blake Snell has began to heat up.

Snell has been linked to the Red Sox, Phillies, Giants, and Angels in recent weeks, and the Yankees are said to have made an offer for his services.According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, while Snell’s team is wanting “at least $240M” this winter, the Yankees’ offer came in “nearly $100M” below that aim.

Since those initial connections, both the Giants and the Yankees have made rotation additions that may have taken them out of the running for Snell: the Giants acquired Robbie Ray in a trade with the Mariners and signed Jordan Hicks to bolster their rotation mix, while the Yankees added Marcus Stroman to their starting five. While it’s unknown whether either club’s interest in Snell will continue with those additions, it’s safe to say they’re in a less dire position in terms of starting pitcher than they were a few weeks ago. Even if those two clubs are no longer in Snell’s market, Nightengale claims that “several” teams are still in contact with Snell’s representation in the hopes that his high asking price will come down as the offseason progresses. He specifically mentions how the Blue Jays “have been quietly monitoring” Snell during his free agency.

Toronto would be an unexpected home for Snell. While the club was one of the finalists in the Yamamoto sweepstakes, the club appears to have avoided a more general foray into pitching free agency this winter in favor of bolstering a lineup that lost Matt Chapman, Whit Merrifield, and Brandon Belt to free agency this winter after key bats such as George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. underperformed in 2023. Starting pitching, on the other hand, was a significant strength of the Blue Jays’ roster last season, as the club was led by ace righty Kevin Gausman and saw excellent rebound seasons from both Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Berrios following terrible seasons in 2022.

Having said that, the Blue Jays demonstrated that they had money to spend this winter by making a strong bid for Shohei Ohtani’s services last month, and the club’s recent additions of Kevin Kiermaier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa make a strong pursuit of Cody Bellinger or Chapman, the offseason’s best remaining positional free agents, less likely than it appeared earlier this winter. With money available and few obvious targets in free agency, pursuing Snell might cement Toronto’s rotation as one of the finest in the game. Snell, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, topped the majors with a 2.25 ERA in 180 innings of work last season and would form an excellent tandem at the top of the club’s rotation alongside Gausman.

A pursuit of Snell would also offer the Blue Jays with insurance against potential injury or ineffectiveness, which they have lacked since veteran southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu left for free agency in November. While the rotation appears to be good on paper, a regression from Kikuchi or Berrios, or further troubles from Alek Manoah following a disastrous 2023 season, might jeopardize the club’s chances to escape from a challenging AL East with a postseason spot next season. Even Chris Bassitt, despite being one of the game’s most dependable mid-rotation starters in recent years, tossed a career-high 200 frames in 33 starts last year and will turn 35 in 2024. While top prospect Rickey Tiedemann could enter the club’s rotation mix sometime next season, providing the depth the club’s starting five currently lacks, the addition of another quality rotation piece such as Snell would relieve pressure on a 21-year-old hurler with only four innings of Triple-A experience heading into what could be his rookie season.

Of course, adding a bat-first player to the club’s beleaguered offense is undoubtedly a higher priority than pursuing a pitcher, and the club may prefer to keep its financial powder dry in anticipation of a strong free agent class next offseason, which is expected to include offensive stars such as Juan Soto, Jose Altuve, and Alex Bregman. Nightengale appears to be implying that the Blue Jays aren’t interested in signing Snell at his current, high asking price, and even if the price drops, it’s likely that a rotation-needy club like the Red Sox or Angels would have more reason to win a bidding war than Toronto. If the Blue Jays want to add depth to their rotation without breaking the bank, a hurler capable of swinging between the rotation and the bullpen, such as Alex Wood, Jakob Junis, or previously rumored target Yariel Rodriguez, could provide the club with additional depth while leaving the door open for a pursuit of Bellinger, Chapman, or any of next winter’s star free agents.