Blue Jays Looking For Another Starting Pitcher

Even after adding Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle in Tuesday's massive trade with the Marlins, the Blue Jays "still need — and want — one more starter," reports FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link).  Assuming the trade with Miami is finalized in its current form, the Jays' rotation currently stands as Brandon Morrow, Johnson, Buehrle, Ricky Romero and J.A. Happ.

The Jays' top priority this offseason was finding starting pitching, and Toronto has been connected to several of the top pitchers on the market as well bounce-back candidates like Scott Baker (who has already signed with the Cubs).  Given the number of injuries suffered by Jays starters in 2012, it's no surprise that the club wants as much depth as possible for next year's rotation.  The Blue Jays have already greatly increased payroll so they could continue this willingness to spend by chasing a Zack Greinke or Anibal Sanchez, but it's also possible that the Jays have already done their major winter spending and will now look for depth amongst lower-priced free agent pitching options.

Matt Sosnick, Johnson's agent, raised the possibility during a recent radio interview that the Jays could deal Johnson or another of the newly-acquired players from the Marlins.  Rosenthal doesn't believe that the big right-hander will be leaving Toronto anytime soon: "Anything is possible, but team did not get Johnson to flip him." Of the players in the deal, John Buck seems like the most obvious trade candidate given the Jays' depth at catcher, though Buck has much less trade value than a younger backstop like J.P. Arencibia.