The Blue Jays have been busy adding to their rotation this offseason but they’re not necessarily done. Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet report that the Jays are still open to adding more starting options, with right-hander Brad Keller one guy they have interest in.
The club has already signed Dylan Cease and reportedly has an agreement in place with Cody Ponce as well. That now gives the Jays an on-paper rotation of Cease, Ponce, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage and José Berríos, with Eric Lauer, Bowden Francis, Ricky Tiedemann and others in the mix as well.
That’s plenty of depth in a sense but there are also some questions in there. Ponce is fairly unproven as he has been pitching in Asia and his last MLB game was several years ago. It was reported this week that Bieber dealt with forearm fatigue late in the 2025 campaign and is now questionable for Opening Day 2026. Berríos was bumped from the rotation late in the season and also wound up on the injured list with an elbow injury. He appears to be healthy now but there may be some discontent there and the Jays are reportedly open to trading him. Lauer pitched both as a starter and reliever in 2025 and could be in line for the same type of role next year. Francis and Tiedemann are both coming off seasons lost to injuries. There’s plenty of long-term uncertainty as well. Gausman, Bieber and Lauer are all slated for free agency after 2026. Berríos has an opt-out in his deal at that time as well.
Keller is a logical target for the Jays, and many other clubs, since he could be deployed either out of the rotation or the bullpen. If the Jays were to sign him, his role could depend on his own performance as well as future moves, the health of Bieber, and various other factors.
Earlier in his career, Keller was a decent starter for the Royals. He didn’t get a ton of strikeouts but he got opponents to hit the ball into the the ground. From 2018 to 2020, he posted a 3.50 earned average with a 16.8% strikeout rate and 52.1% ground ball rate. He then endured a few years of struggle, with a 5.14 ERA from 2021 to 2023. He underwent surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome in October of 2023. He returned to action in 2024 but without much success, posting a 5.44 ERA as a swingman.
In 2025, he got a relief role with the Cubs and ran with it. He logged 69 2/3 innings on the year overall with a tiny ERA of 2.07. His 56.1% ground ball rate was in his usual range but he also managed to punch out 27.2% of batters he faced, almost double his early-career rate.
In recent years, it has become quite common to stretch out successful relievers, often in cases involving guys with previous starting experience. Garrett Crochet, Seth Lugo, Michael King, Clay Holmes and Reynaldo López have had varying degrees of success with the switch. It didn’t go quite as well with guys like A.J. Puk and Jordan Hicks. But the appeal for a team is clear, as it’s usually an attempt to get a starter for a reliever price.
At the start of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Keller to secure a $36MM guarantee over three years, with that prediction baking in the possibility some clubs would view him as a starter. $12MM annually isn’t nothing but it’s still cheaper than veteran injury reclamation deals. Guys like Alex Cobb and Max Scherzer got $15MM contracts last winter, for instance. The top guys, like Cease, get about double that annually.
Keller has indeed received interest as a starter this winter, with the Tigers and Yankees reportedly interested in him. The connection to the Tigers came before they signed Drew Anderson, so it’s possible that deal diminishes their interest in Keller somewhat. For the Yankees, they have a number of starters who are going to start the season on the injured list, so it seems the plan would be for Keller to start initially. As other pitchers get healthy, perhaps he could end up pushed into a relief role.
As mentioned, the thinking with the Jays would be somewhat similar. Bringing Keller into the mix could bolster the rotation but he could also end up in the bullpen if he’s not one of the top five rotation options. The Jays will presumably be balancing their desire to sign Keller with their other priorities.
RosterResource projects the Jays for a payroll of $268MM next year, which is already $10MM above where they finished in 2025. They seem to still be in the market for a closer and a big bat, with frequent connections to Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker. Doing those things and also signing Keller will depend on how high the budget can go after their deep playoff run this year.
Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images
If he goes to Toronto, I would expect him to be a reliever, but a starter is also reasonable. Maybe both?
Maybe a reliever this year and a move to the rotation in 2027 when they lose a few guys to free agency.
No get someone better please.
Keller was a stud last year would love for the Cubs to get him back.
I thought this guy had retired. Can’t believe he’s only 30.
Keller….Keller….where have I heard that name before?….well known umpire?
C’mon Ross….you can do better.
Jays are just messing with other gm’s at this point.
Bid up the price. Waste other teams time so they miss out on other guys.
Etc
Well they’ve done that to themselves the last couple of years
They’ve been doing this since shatkins arrived in Toronto
If he goes to the bullpen in Toronto that’s gotta be one of the most expensive yet non elite elite bullpens ever. Hoffman 13,Garcia 7.5, Lauer 6, Ponce 10, Rodriguez 6.5 to not even be on the roster plus whatever big ticket bullpen arm theyve yet to acquire.
Ponce is not in the bullpen.
Youre mentioning starters in your comment. Remember, Berrios is toast and Bieber is injured. And Rodriguez isnt on the ML roster
So the jays are gonna have a 8 man rotation? As things stand now Gaus-Cease-Yesavage-bieber-Berrios. Plenty can change between now and start of season but Ponce and Lauer are stretched out but in the pen to start. Berrios might be cooked there wasn’t any structural damag to his elbow plus he makes almost as much a Season as Ponces makes his entire contract. enRodriguez is clearly just a offseason paper transaction to clear up a 40 man spot and I did say in my comment that he’s not even on the roster
I’ll take under 25 starts for Berrios, Bieber, and Yasavage. That leaves a whole lot of starts for Ponce, Lauer, etc.
If you consider him a viable option as a leverage-arm out of the bullpen, spend the money. Keller might not raise the floor much but he does improve pitching depth.
If not, I think the focus has to be filling the gap in the batting order where Bo fits. Looking at the short list at the top of him, Bregman, Bellinger, and Tucker, you could really plug any of them in and not be disappointed.
Otherwise, you’re betting on a big bounce-back from Santander being enough to get back to games that really matter!
I think it’s imperative they bring in a big bat this offseason. Bichette was a huge part of their offense last year. People keep saying they did fine in the playoffs without him the first two rounds but you can’t count on Vlad and Clement to hit like that all regular season.
If Springer regresses and they don’t resign Bo or bring in one of the other big bats, their offense could become quite mediocre real quick.
Keller still has his San Francisco police department inspector job partnered with Lt Mike Stone.He took a leave of absence from Law Enforcement last year to pitch with cubs.
So he’s got that going for him.
Shatkins can sign Keller, Fairbanks and Bo or Tucker and then take the rest of the winter off.