Blue Jays should target free agent Patrick Corbin this offseason

Even though the Toronto Blue Jays are smack dab in the middle of a rebuild, they should still wade into the free agent waters this offseason and sign starting pitcher Patrick Corbin.

Patrick Corbin will undoubtedly not come cheap and will in all likelihood seek a five-year deal from any prospective teams. However, the southpaw is only 29 years old and just hitting the prime of his career. Locking him up now will ensure the Jays have a legitimate front of the rotation arm when it is time to compete and by the looks of the current landscape, the Jays may compete sooner than later.

Corbin along with Marcus Stroman, the oft-injured Aaron Sanchez, Ryan Borucki, Thomas Pannone, and Sean Reid-Foley give the Jays a formidable six arms. The Jays will have the salary flexibility to lure free agents and they will desperately need an innings eater next season.

In 2018, Corbin is 11-6 with a 3.09 earned run average while fanning 237 hitters in 192 innings of work thus far this season. Corbin also only allowed a career-low 15 home runs this season good for a 0.7 HR/9 rating. He sports a career 3.91 earned run average across six seasons on the desert.

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There are not many viable pitching free agents south of 30-years old hitting the open market in the next two years. Gerrit Cole may be the only other comparable name and he won’t become available until the offseason of 2019/20.

Corbin is going to earn a significant raise from the $7.5 million he made in 2018 but the Jays have already rid themselves of a number of contracts and will see Marco Estrada and Tyler Clippard come off the books at seasons end.

Corbin is the ilk of player you can build your rotation around. The Jays need to start building the talent pool around the kids now, in case they surprise everyone and succeed in short order.