The Blue Jays made a big move to upgrade their rotation by signing Dylan Cease to a seven-year deal, but they may not be done. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports that the Jays have remained engaged on the starting pitching market even after agreeing to terms with Cease. The report mentions that the Jays had interest in Joe Ryan of the Twins and MacKenzie Gore of the Nationals prior to the trade deadline, while also suggesting the Jays have some interest in free agents Michael King and Cody Ponce.
The Toronto rotation currently projects to include Cease, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage and José Berríos, with guys like Eric Lauer, Ricky Tiedemann and Bowden Francis in the mix as well.
That’s a pretty strong group but there are some question marks. Bieber’s decision to trigger his $16MM player option has led to speculation he may not be 100% healthy. He could have taken a $4MM buyout and returned to free agency, only needing to get $12MM to come out ahead, but a new deal would have required him to pass a physical. To be clear, that’s entirely speculative. There has been no public indication anything is wrong with Bieber, but it’s one possible explanation for why he didn’t pursue a larger deal. Another explanation could be that he simply wanted to stay with the Jays for another year before heading to free agency after a fully healthy season.
Beyond that, Gausman turns 35 in January. Yesavage had a tremendous debut late in the year but is still light on big league experience. Berríos had a mediocre 2025 and finished the season on the injured list due to elbow inflammation, though he is supposedly going to have a normal offseason. Lauer worked both as a starter and a reliever in 2025 and seems likely to do so again next year. Tiedemann has been on prospect lists for years but already had workload concerns before Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2025 season. Francis had a good showing in 2024 but was held back by shoulder problems this year.
There’s also the long-term picture to consider. Gausman, Bieber and Lauer are all slated for free agency after 2026. Berríos can also opt-out of his deal at that time. There’s reportedly been some consideration of trading Berríos but that will be a challenge considering his health status, results and opt-out. The general point is that there’s not a lot of long-term certainty. Signing Cease upgraded the rotation for the upcoming campaign and beyond. Yet another acquisition could do the same.
Gore is a pretty straightforward trade candidate. The Nationals are rebuilding and aren’t likely to be contending for a while. Gore is controlled for two more years and is represented by the Boras Corporation. It’s not true that Boras clients never sign extensions but it’s a decent bet that Gore and Boras are looking forward to free agency.
It’s notable that the Jays were interested in him ahead of the deadline but his situation has changed a bit since then. He was dominant through the All-Star break in 2025, as he had an 3.02 earned run average, 30.5% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate at that time. But he struggled down the stretch and went on the IL twice, first due to shoulder inflammation and then an ankle impingement. His results suffered and he finished the year with a 4.17 ERA.
The Nats are getting interest in Gore this offseason but could perhaps wait until the upcoming trade deadline if they don’t get offers to their liking. He is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $4.7MM next year, with another arbitration control beyond that. The Nats have very little on their books and don’t need to move him for financial reasons. If the Jays want to circle back to Gore, they might have to put a notable prospect package on the table.
The situation with Ryan is somewhat analogous. He is also two years away from the open market, with a projected $5.8MM salary next year. He has been a pretty consistently above average pitcher in his career. In his 641 1/3 innings, he has a 3.79 ERA, 27.6% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk rate.
The Twins seemed to kick off a rebuild or retool or reset or whatever at the deadline. They traded a number of relievers, including Louis Varland to the Jays, and sent Carlos Correa back to Houston. Coming into this offseason, many expected Ryan and other Twins to be on the trade block but Minnesota’s president of baseball operations Derek Falvey has downplayed the idea that he needs to continue subtracting from the roster.
If the Jays can’t find solutions on the trade market, they could sign another free agent. Nicholson-Smith reports that King “could be” of interest. Though the Jays wouldn’t sacrifice prospects directly, they would still be hurting their farm system. King rejected a qualifying offer from the Padres and is therefore tied to the associated penalties. Since the Jays paid the competitive balance tax in 2025, they would have to forfeit two draft picks and $1MM in international bonus pool space. Cease also rejected a QO from the Padres, so the Jays have already paid that price. If they were to end up with Cease and King, that would mean giving up a total of four draft picks and $2MM from their bonus pool.
It’s unclear if the Jays would be willing to go down that road. It presumably depends on what kind of financial price they would have to pay to sign King. He seemed on track for a nine-figure deal before injuries hampered him in 2025. MLBTR predicted him for a four-year, $80MM deal but it’s possible King looks for a shorter deal with opt-outs, so that he can return to free agency with a healthier platform season.
He had a really strong run from the second half of 2023 through the beginning of 2025. With the Yankees in 2023, he was blocked and stuck in a relief role. As the Yanks were playing out a lost season two years ago, they let King take a rotation job. He performed well and was flipped to the Padres prior to 2024, which eventually became his best season. From August 24th of 2023 through May 18th of 2025, he tossed 267 2/3 innings with a 2.72 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate. FanGraphs had him seventh among pitchers in the majors in wins above replacement for that span, behind only Tarik Skubal, Chris Sale, Zack Wheeler, Logan Webb, Cole Ragans and Cease.
The latter months of 2025 were marred by injury, however. A nerve injury in his shoulder put him on the shelf for several months. He came off the IL in August but left knee inflammation sent him right back there. He returned in September and wasn’t amazing, allowing ten earned runs in his final 15 2/3 innings. The Padres gave the Game Three start in the Wild Card round to Yu Darvish, who was 39 years old and battling elbow problems which would require surgery a month later, instead of King.
It all makes King one of the more interesting free agents of the offseason. He was a borderline ace for a while there but also has only one big league season with more than 15 starts. Teams likely have varying opinions on what they expect from him going forward.
As for Ponce, he’s also a wild card, but for different reasons. His MLB track record is small but he’s been pitching well overseas. He just wrapped up a season in which he tossed 180 2/3 innings for the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization with a 1.89 ERA. His 252 strikeouts were a single-season KBO record. He was named the league MVP for his dominant season but remains unproven in North American ball. Regardless, it has been reported that he could earn $30MM to $40MM on a three-year deal.
Time will tell how aggressively the Jays go after another rotation upgrade. They still have needs elsewhere, including the back of the bullpen. Bringing in an impact bat, such as Kyle Tucker or reuniting with Bo Bichette, seems to be on the to-do list as well. RosterResource projects the Jays for a $263MM payroll and $272MM competitive balance tax figure next year. Those numbers were $258MM and $283MM at the end of 2025. It’s unclear how much farther they can push things but perhaps their deep playoff run in 2025 has created some extra spending capacity in 2026.
Photo courtesy of Matt Krohn, Imagn Images
Luis Severino.
Trade Berríos and get King or Gore. Easy
@BeenThereDoneIt
Trade Berrios to who? While he is making ~19M in ’26 he does have that player option at the end of that season. If he exercises it he gets 2 seasons at ~25M each. Knowing that, what’s the return?
Trading Berrios wouldn’t be easy.
Jays would need to add cash the only problem is how much.
Not sure you can add cash contingent on if he exercises his opt out or not
Berrios for Arenado, Nolan waives his no-trade? Yikes, not sure if I’d want that. But bad contract for bad contract is where we’re at.
Berrios for Severino? At this point, keeping him might be better.
Sure it would, as long as you don’t care what you get back.
Ragans?
Not easy.
Falvey would gladly trade Joe Ryan for a kick in the nuts.
Probably not someone like Valdez right?
Rogers has DEEEEEEEP pockets, 2nd only to Steve Cohen. Should go all in and worry about tax balance later…..if they truly want to win it all.
@ Socalhardball-Guggenheim has entered the chat as far as deep pockets.go. You should know that living in the shadow of Dodger Stadium
You saw the net worth meme on Instagram too huh?
Toronto already boasts a deep rotation, including some of the most durable arms in the league in Gausman, Cease, and Berrios. Can’t say I understand exactly why they want to make another addition, unless they’re hoping to roll with a six-man rotation.
I don’t think it’s a wise move AT ALL for the Twins to trade away Joe Ryan…they need to KEEP him cuz he’s hella cheap and very decent pitcher. Trade Pedro Lopez if you’re going to trade anybody.
That’s what I think, too, but the Twins’ ownership seems more concerned with saving money than building a team to compete. Joe Ryan’s arbitration price tag will be pretty high when he’s eligible, but it’s worth it for a player of his caliber.
As for Pablo*, he’s worth hanging onto, too. Other than Buxton, he’s one of the only “veterans” left on the team… And he’s GOOD. Unless they were overwhelmed by a return package for him, I think it’s silly to fathom parting with him or Joe.
Sorry I knew the name looked funny after I submitted it. Lo siento Pablo.
You know, the Twins are not in a total abject state of affairs. They have a Top 5 farm system. At the deadline they accrued Major League talent in Roden and Abel. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Twins barely show a downward blip from last seasons sell-off. Okay I don’t know if I can promise a playoff berth but a .500 season is more than plausible. And I think that would be great for the fanbase, but trading Joe Ryan will not help in that regard.
The twins traded Varland with 4 years of cheap control left, I’m not sure there is much rhyme or reason to what they did last year
They blew up their bullpen. Shouldn’t be too hard to rebuild.
Salary dumped Correa. Nobody likes him anyway. Good riddance
Traded away impending free agents
Twins need/ed a restart. None of the young hitters have produced outside of small samples. I’ll be shocked if they don’t trade away a couple hitters just to shake things up. Not expecting Ryan or Lopez to be moved. If they go much lower in salary the players union will have something to say
I don’t know that the Twins needed a “restart” as much as they need to focus on player development. So many guys with potential coming and going in the last several years… Sano, Miranda, and Julien are just to name a few.
The Twins went into 2025 on the heels of two offseasons of doing hardly anything significant. Adding expensive players is sometimes a necessary price to pay to build up younger guys and to carry a lineup to the precipice of actually competing.
Not gonna lie, really want Hoyer to make a good offer for Joe Ryan. Cubs need another starter and he’s a stud that would help a lot. Cubs have the prospects too.
Hopeful, you think Arraez coming back makes sense? They need 1B/DH and I doubt he’ll cost too much. Or am I just being a homer?
Sorry but I don’t actually believe rebuilding a bullpen that had Duran, Varland, Jax and coloumbe will be that easy to rebuild.
I meant only in comparison to rebuilding a lineup or rotation. That Jax trade was horrible imo. The Jays obviously love Varland and the Phillies can’t get enough of Duran. But at least the returns feel okay so far. I believe Abel and or Bradley will be in the bullpen by the end of 26
Jays to add King and Ha Seong Kim or Arraez to become Padres East?
I don’t think they can add Michael King if they want to add Bo Bitchette/Kyle Tucker.
I can see King making them better.
Arraez, in particular, is plus-pinch-hitter but not enough power or OBP or defense for anything else on the Jays.
You don’t take a guy with a platinum glove a the best defense in Two positions and make him a super utility.
Arraez is nothing more than a DH, especially in the fast carpet of the dome. He’ll just stand like a statue and watch them roll by.
Gimenez making waay too much money to send him straight to the bench.
Unless it’s a big upgrade over Berrios, like Skubal, it makes zero sense to put more resources into their rotation. It’s already one of the better in the league, assuming health. Fill out the lineup and a solid bullpen addition. Then make any trades needed at the deadline
@ohyeadam
Agreed. Hoffman can’t be the closer in ’26.
Probably just looking for another swing/depth type.
No way they are going to add anything significant on top of the current group, unless they move Berríos.
Also doubt this has anything to do with Bieber. I’m sure his agent didn’t call the jays and say hey he’s not healthy, so we are going to accept a below market deal. Kinda laughable it was even brought up
Looking at the Bieber decision separately, accepting the option makes sense only if health is a possible issue.
If Bieber is healthy, even the Jays would have offered him significantly more, guaranteed, than the net $12M in FA. As a business decision, it only makes sense if he is concerned about his health in a way that might/would not pass a physical.
Even as a bet on himself before heading to free agency after a fully healthy season, entering FA now has to make more sense (assuming he could pass a physical) since he can negotiate opt-outs to protect his future interests and still guarantee more than 12. And without a QO attached.
The good news is the Jays stand to benefit from his generosity on the field next season and they are lined up to gain a QO draft pick …if things work out that way next off-season.
That’s all speculation, it could be but there are other scenarios.
Another very likely scenario could be that he clicked with his teammates and coaches, gave up the game winning HR in game 7 of the WS and felt like running it back.
In free agency, he was probably looking at a 2-3 year deal, but after a good 2026 he probably sets himself up for one final long term contract.
He and the jays could also be discussing an extension but they agreed to park it while the jays focus on improving the team.
Again I’m not sure, but the guy was pitching up to the last inning, I’m not sure what could have happened after that would have been permanent enough to lead to a failed physical.
The extension possibility makes sense but why park it? While I agree that there was no obvious indication of any issue with his health, it could be something like I am dealing with regarding my golf game.
I have extreme weakness lifting my left arm above shoulder height but have no difficulty making the golf swing. Something similar might not affect his pitching motion or effectiveness but could impact a clean bill-of-health during a physical.
I do disagree on the likelihood of the run-it-back scenario. Not that it couldn’t be the case, just that it is so unusual ….
Your next point could be addressed by an opt-out provision in any contract he did sign. Even coming off the injury, he still carries the cachet to request/demand that in negotiations.
Don’t get me wrong: I am glad he opted in.
But something doesn’t add up …from the outside looking in. I am sure it all makes sense from his end and that is really all that matters.
Maybe they parked it because the team requested to worry about spring training so they can focus on free agency.
Any issue that isnt impacting his arm wouldn’t fail his physical, in fact players can fail physicals and still sign, might be an altered deal but it’s not a clean pass or fail. We saw that with Correa and Hoffman.
In order for him to believe he wouldn’t pass a physical it would mean something is permanently wrong with his arm and I can’t see that being the case
I mean he got 2/26 when he was scheduled for TJS. So even TJS and a small likelihood of contributing got him more than 12 million.
Looks like they just bought a $30M insurance policy!
Go Jays!!
Inquire about Ohtani. Although he is a 4th guy for the Dodgers rotation, I heard he’s a decent pitcher. Probably could get him for some decent prospects.
I mean they’ll probably look for bargains but I doubt they’re gonna look at the top of the market. They have other needs ATM
Jose Berrios is making $19M in 2026. I’m sending Berrios, RHP Tommy Nance, and $10M to San Diego for RHP Jason Adam ($5.5M) and LHP Adrian Morejan (6M). Padres get a SP they desperately need and some financial relied this year.
Jays get bullpen depth in 2 guys who limit damage (Morejan) and K rate (Adam) while also getting out of the last 2 years of Berrios deal.
Is 10mil enough for the pads if berrios doesn’t opt out? Last 2 years are 2/48
I just used that as a possibility but maybe $20M or $30M will do it. We’d also taking $12M off the Padres hands for 2026 trading for Morejan and Adam.
Padres won’t accept
What else do you think they’d want
They won’t trade 2 high leverage guys because the market for relief is running out and they think they can compete. So either Morejan or Adam. But I don’t think it’s both.
Padres rotation is thin but their bullpen is their strength. It would be difficult to pry a bullpen arm away from SD.
BJ’s can sorta cool their jets and not be outright greedy and just chill out and let some other teams have a shot at some pitchers as well. Canadians are known for their friendliness & generosity and so Toronto should stand up tall and step back for awhile and let other teams pick over the remnants and fight and squabble over whomever is left. Jays are LOADED!!
I like seeing a team step on the gas when they have a shot at winning a championship. Your Mariners aren’t doing too bad, they’re definitely trying.
Yeah I’m just trying to deploy my weak mind control powers to hypnotize Toronto into non-action so they will be less of a threat next season. They probably won’t be swayed though.
Bassitt would make my pick!
Bassitt looked so good in the WS I wanted him to start one of those games.
Manoah signs with Angels $2M for one year. Still only 28, he might actually pay off for them at that price!!
It doesn’t make any sense with Berrios and Lauer at 5/6 on the depth chart.