Toronto Blue Jays: Latest 2020-21 Offseason Predictions

Homecoming of sorts

Even though the Blue Jays will most likely acquire pitching help through trades as mentioned by Ross Atkins, it doesn’t mean they won’t sign a single free agent that’s a pitcher.

In fact, they will sign a free agent pitcher in the name of James Paxton, who’s a Canadian that hails from Ladner, British Columbia and is nicknamed “The Big Maple”. He even has a tattoo of a maple leaf on his right arm to show his Canadian pride.

In 2020, Paxton was limited to five starts posting a 6.64 ERA with an opponent average of .284. He was only able to make five starts due to a flexor strain in his throwing arm, which is just one of multiple injuries he has suffered throughout his career.

When healthy though, Paxton is a widely underrated pitcher. In his career he’s 57-33 with a 3.58 ERA striking out 829 batters compared to 684 hits given up in 753.1 innings pitched across 136 starts.

Signing Paxton to a “pillow contract” with a team option for a second year would work for both sides. The Jays would hope for a bounce-back season from Paxton and if he does well, they’d be able to have him for one more year.