Blue Jays: Tanner Roark may not be an ace, but he’s still needed

The Blue Jays finally landed a free agent starting pitcher by signing Tanner Roark. He’s not the ace the team needs, but his services should be welcomed in Toronto.

For those of us that were starting to go a little stir-crazy about the Blue Jays’ lack of movement this off-season, Ross Atkins finally gave us something to scratch the itch by signing Tanner Roark to a two year, 24 million dollar pact.

Over the past few days the sense of urgency has really started to ramp up, especially because other premium starting pitchers like Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, and Zack Wheeler have all signed over the last week. The Blue Jays came into the off-season with the stated goal of improving the starting rotation, and the options were starting to dwindle very quickly. For that reason, getting Roark to agree to come to Toronto is certainly a win.

Despite that fact, there are some Blue Jays fans that feel like Roark is an underwhelming addition to the team. However, let’s call a spade a spade here: He’s probably the best starter in the current Blue Jays’ rotation. Hopefully Atkins and company aren’t done with their pursuit of starters, but Roark makes them better than they were on Tuesday, whether he’s an ace or not.

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One of the most important skills he’ll bring north of the border is the ability to consistently take the hill. He’s made at least 30 starts in five out of his seven big league seasons, and has topped the 180 innings pitched mark four times. Last year he ended up going 10-10 with a 4.35 ERA, a 1.397 WHIP, and threw 165.1 innings over the course of 31 starts. Those full-season numbers were good enough for 2.0 bWAR, which would have lead the Blue Jays in 2019.

The 33-year-old had his best season as a pro back in 2016 when he went 16-10 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.171 WHIP across 33 starts, which was good enough to rank him 10th in NL Cy Young voting. He hasn’t approached that level or production since, but he’s carved out a nice career as a reliable arm that will take the ball every five days and give his team a chance to win. That’s exactly what this young Blue Jays team needs right now.

Ideally, Atkins and the rest of the front office will be able to find a pitcher that fits into the long-term plans of this team as well. That said, adding Roark brings a number of benefits beyond just giving the team a better chance to win next season. He’ll push some of the Blue Jays’ young starters further down the depth chart where they belong, giving them a proper opportunity to develop in Triple-A, and likely still getting a chance at some point in 2020 anyway.

It’s also important that the Blue Jays got a win in free agency, even if it’s a relatively small one. There was a growing sentiment that the Blue Jays have a more difficult time attracting free agents as a rebuilding club, and the only franchise outside of the United States. That idea might be reinforced by the slight overpay the Blue Jays just made in order to get Roark to sign, but the good news is they got the deal done and they’re no longer batting .000 in free agency.

If the Blue Jays can sign one more starter, someone like Hyun-Jin Ryu or Dallas Keuchel, then the work of improving the starting rotation will likely be seen as a win overall. Roark doesn’t do that on his own, and while he’s not the ace that the Blue Jays could really use for the short and long-term, he’s a useful starter that will serve his purpose. Frankly, that’s better than nothing at this point.