Blue Jays are one quality pitcher away from legitimacy again

The Toronto Blue Jays are one quality pitching addition away from once again contending in the American League East. With four of their five starting spots all but locked up in the rotation, one legitimate arm could make all the difference.

If healthy the Blue Jays have arguably one of the best rotations in baseball with the likes of Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, Marco Estrada and former 20-game winner J.A. Happ all entrenched in the rotation.

The remaining spot is where the Blue Jays need to reach for a free agent hurler rather than relying on internal options. There have been rumblings that the Blue Jays will lean toward Joe Biagini to round out the rotation however he has struggled in his audition in the rotation and seems better suited for the bullpen where he previously enjoyed success.

The Jays could also look at bringing back free-agent Brett Anderson or promoting rookie Ryan Borucki who skyrocketed through the farm system in 2017.

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A report surfaced last week from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that the Blue Jays would be interested in free agent hurler Alex Cobb. The 29-year old owned a 3.66 earned run average in 29 starts for the Rays this season and would be an ideal candidate to anchor the rotation.

Some other pitchers who will be testing free agency this offseason are Yu Darvish, Jake Arrieta, Lance Lynn, Jason Vargas and the prized jewel of them all Shohei Otani. A mid-tier hurler Lynn or Cobb may be a more realistic option than the big three.

This season the Jays utilized 14 different starting pitchers out of necessity compared to only 7 in the season before. The likes of Tom Koehler, Brett Anderson, and Chris Rowley can all be valuable depth pieces if needs throughout the season but the Jays need to make a splash with something more legitimate than the above mentioned.

With Happ and Estrada becoming free agents at the conclusion of next season, the Jays could afford to dip into the free agent market and sign someone to a multi-year deal.

Next: The Blue Jays have had the worst hitter in all of baseball in 2017

The Jays are one pitcher away from having the most feared rotation in baseball and once again staking a claim as contenders in the AL East. Get it done Atkins.