Blue Jays: Veteran starting pitcher on offseason radar

Among the many possible moves the Blue Jays could make this offseason, one of the more probable may be adding to their starting staff.

With veteran starter Marco Estrada almost certainly leaving the roster this winter, the Blue Jays are left with a plethora of rotation question marks entering the 2019 season.

According to Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com, the Blue Jays will “likely” add another starting pitcher to their rotation through free agency. He also adds throughout the column that the team will probably end up adding an older, more experienced starter in order to mentor their crop of young arms.

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This seems unsurprising, to say the least. The Blue Jays have been long connected with other journeyman starters who recently appeared on the free-agent market, mainly Doug Fister and Mike Fiers in the last few seasons. Simply put, it’s not difficult to imagine them returning to that goal this offseason.

With dependability at an all-time low within the pitching staff, consistency and innings will surely be valuable come next season. At this point, it seems almost a sure thing that young starters Ryan Borucki and Marcus Stroman will be in the starting five. Beyond that, there’s not much else that’s unequivocally known.

If there’s a chance to snag a veteran hurler on a reasonable, perhaps two-year, deal, then the front office should definitely take the risk. If the price is right, experience within a starting rotation could be put to use by this group of young, inexperienced pitchers.

Despite all this, the offseason remains an enigmatic, endlessly complex journey for this front office. While speculation on what exactly they will do will be front and centre, it’s important to remember the fact that a rebuild, especially one of this magnitude, is first and foremost a process that, if done correctly, will take time to execute.