Blue Jays: Pitching ad nauseam, Jose Peraza and more

If you have not heard the Toronto Blue Jays have the financial flexibility to spend $100 million this offseason, however, the front office continues to slow play the market.

According to Jon Morosi of Fox Sports, the Blue Jays have been one of the most aggressive teams in pursuing free-agent pitchers thus far. The brain trust has not been rewarded for their due diligence thus far but they are reportedly trying.

Yesterday, we saw Zack Wheeler sign a huge $118 million dollar pact with the Philadelphia Phillies. The White Sox allegedly offered more cake but Wheeler opted for the City of Brotherly Love due to it’s proximity to his wife’s hometown of New Jersey. So realistically, Wheeler was never coming to Toronto even in an overpay situation.

The Jays have been rumored to be in on a number of free agents with the likes of Hyun-Jin Ryu, Josh Lindblom, and Michael Pineda all mentioned in recent days. They could conceivably land all three of those hurlers for the price the Phillies paid for Wheeler.

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Jose Peraza was recently non-tendered by the Reds and could be a nice buy-low candidate. The native of Venezuela is just 25-year of age and a season removed from hitting .288 with 14 homers and 23 stolen bases in 29 attempts. Peraza can play infield and outfield in a super-utility role over Brandon Drury on my team any day. MLB Trade Rumors had projected he would earn $3.6 million in 2020 but may even come a little cheaper on the open market.

And hell, the Jays can use Peraza on the bump in a pinch as Peraza made two scoreless relief appearances for the Reds last season tossing 1.1 innings.

On an unrelated side note, today marks the 29th anniversary the Blue Jays acquired Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter from the San Diego Padres in exchange for Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez. This is arguably the most influential trades in franchise history propelling the Blue Jays to World Series grandeur.