Blue Jays: Looking ahead to the 2021 free agent crop

Starting Pitchers

Last but not least are the starting pitchers, which is almost always a position of need for every team across Major League Baseball. Even if it’s not a “need”, you can always use an upgrade.

The Blue Jays could actually be in pretty good shape when it comes to their rotation a year from now, just as they are at the moment. Hyun-Jin Ryu will be in just the second of his four-year deal, and Tanner Roark will still be around for the last year of his two-season pact. Matt Shoemaker could be a free agent by then, and the Blue Jays will have a club option for Chase Anderson at 9.5 million, although I’m sure they’ll wait to decide on it until the end of the year.

Even if the Blue Jays let Anderson and Shoemaker walk, they could still fill out the rotation with in-house options like Ryan Borucki, Anthony Kay, Trent Thornton, and more. It also remains to be seen if Shun Yamaguchi will end up as a starter or a reliever in North America. And of course, there’s a good chance that Nate Pearson could be one of, if not their best starting pitcher a year from now, and he’s almost certainly a lock to be in the rotation for 2021.

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All that said, I already mentioned that upgrades are always welcome when it comes to the rotation, as is depth. There likely won’t be much in the way of an “ace” available on the open market, but there are still plenty of valuable #2-3 types. That list includes Trevor Bauer, James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, Mike Minor, and more. The Blue Jays could also take another run at Jake Odorizzi, who they pursued earlier this winter as a free agent before he returned to Minnesota.

Ultimately it’ll come down to the need in the organization, and with good health from the assets the Blue Jays already have in place, it’s possible they don’t add much more than depth pieces for the rotation ahead of the 2021 season. Things can change in a hurry though, especially with a pitching staff, so I’m sure the front office will be monitoring the market throughout the season and into next winter.

As I’ve already said, the Blue Jays won’t truly know what their list of needs is until the 2020 season is over, and we’re obviously a while from that point. When the time comes though, they should be in a great position of payroll flexibility, especially with Troy Tulowitzki‘s 14 million coming off the books at the end of the year.