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Toronto Blue Jays have James Paxton on their radar

By Clayton Richer |
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 18: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) James Paxton #65 of the New York Yankees in action against the Houston Astros in game five of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 18, 2019 in New York City. The Yankees defeated the Astros 4-1. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 18: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) James Paxton #65 of the New York Yankees in action against the Houston Astros in game five of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium on October 18, 2019 in New York City. The Yankees defeated the Astros 4-1. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

According to Jon Heyman of the MLB Network, the Toronto Blue Jays are still very active in the pitching market and have Canadian hurler James Paxton on their radar.

James Paxton and the Blue Jays would make perfect sense as Toronto attempts to shore up their rotation for the 2021 campaign. The 32-year old Canuck is coming off an injury prone season where he tossed just 20.1 inning with the Yankees due to a flexor strain in his elbow.

The southpaw recently threw a session for nearly 20 teams and reportedly was in the mid nineties hitting 94 with his fastball. In five starts last season, Paxton surrendered 15 runs to the tune of an inflated 6.64 earned run average before being sidelined with the elbow issues.

Paxton earned $12.5 million last season and is represented by Scott Boras of the Boras Corporation which always makes thing interesting. I would expect the “Big Maple” to land a multi-year pact with performance incentives written into the contract.

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As it currently stands, the Blue Jays rotation is in dire need of some beefing up. The likes of Hyun Jin Ryu, Nate Pearson, Robbie Ray, Tanner Roark and Anthony Kay are not going to lead Toronto to the promise land.

Ideally the Jays need to acquire or sign a front of the rotation hurler along with a mid-tier starter who can bump Roark out of the rotation. The addition of Paxton along with someone of Taijuan Walker‘s ilk would go a long way in increasing the Blue Jays playoff chances.

If Paxton is healthy, he would compliment Ryu and Pearson nicely at the front of the rotation. In 2019, the lefty went 15-6 with 3.82 earned run average while fanning 11.1 batters per nine innings in 29 starts. The Canadian sports a career 3.58 earned run average and a 13.0 WAR in 136 MLB starts with the Mariners and Yankees.

Tyler Chatwood brings potential upside with low risk. dark. Next

The brain trust went all in on George Springer, now it is time to go all in on pitching and Paxton would be the first step.

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