Blue Jays: James Shields might be what the 2019 rotation needs

The Toronto Blue Jays 2019 rotation currently has a ton of question marks surrounding it. That’s where the stability & innings of James Shields could help.

If you were to project the 2019 Toronto Blue Jays rotation, there definitely isn’t a whole lot of innings that can be counted upon between Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, and Ryan Borucki. Beyond those three, there’s two glaring rotation openings for the likes of Sean Reid-Foley, Thomas Pannone, and perhaps some others to step up and claim.

That’s not many innings to go around regardless of how you fill in the rotation, and it’s an area that will likely need to be addressed. To that end, the Chicago White Sox declined the $16 million option on James Shields today (October 29th) and his 204.2 innings pitched in 2018 could be of interest on a cheap, one year deal to fill a rotation spot for 2019 for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Performance wise, Shields will be heading into 2019 five seasons removed from the nickname of “Big Game James” as he has not posted a FIP below 4.45 since the 2014 season with the Kansas City Royals. The Blue Jays would need Shields to be exactly what he was in 2018 for them in 2019, which isn’t far off at all from what R.A. Dickey gave the Blue Jays in 2016:

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• Dickey – 169.2 IP, 4.46 ERA, 5.03 FIP, 6.68 K/9, 3.34 BB/9, 1.49 HR/9
• Shields – 204.2 IP, 4.53 ERA, 5.09 FIP, 6.77 K/9, 3.43 BB/9, 1.50 HR/9

The numbers are nearly identical between the two minus the innings discrepancy, but Dickey was thrown into the bullpen and pitching once every six days in the rotation after Francisco Liriano came on board. Dickey was a steady hand in the Blue Jays rotation during his tenure in the Blue Jays rotation, especially in a few seasons with a rotation that couldn’t be relied upon for innings heading into the season.

James Shields would need to be exactly what R.A. Dickey was in 2016, and for a rotation that needs to have some more guaranteed innings . He could also be around to mentor the younger kids in the rotation similar to how Mark Buehrle helped Stroman in 2015. Shields also made 21 starts in the Tampa Bay Rays minor league system in 2004 and 2005, where Charlie Montoyo was around, so there’s that connection with the Blue Jays as well.

Some may prefer for the young kids to get a shot at holding down the back end of the rotation for 2019. That is definitely a fair ask and one I agree with as well. However, the Blue Jays have question marks with Sanchez and Stroman for 2019. Borucki, Reid-Foley, and Pannone have yet to pitch an entire season in the bigs and the latter two may not even be ready to break camp with the team. James Shields, on a cheap one year deal could be the innings and stability the Blue Jays need in their rotation for 2019.