Blue Jays: Three risky pitchers to consider signing this offseason

Michael Pineda

Hailing from the Dominican Republic, right-hander Michael Pineda is coming off a two-year, $20 million dollar deal he signed with the Minnesota Twins.

He originally began his Major League career with the Seattle Mariners back in 2011 but was traded to the New York Yankees during the 2011/2012 offseason, spending the next six years with the Bronx Bombers before signing with the Twins during the 2017/2018 offseason.

For his career, Pineda has accumulated a 3.98 ERA through 169 starts, striking out 940 batters through 962.0 innings with an 8.8 K/9 and a 1.190 WHIP. He was also part of an incident back in 2014 when he was ejected from his start against the Boston Red Sox when it was discovered he had pine tar on his neck, a sticky substance that helps pitchers get a better grip on the ball but is considered a banned substance on the mound (especially in today’s game).

Pineda makes this list because he has proven to be a dependable rotation arm when he is healthy, an issue he has struggled with for most of his career. He missed the entire 2012 campaign and a majority of the 2013 season after undergoing shoulder surgery and underwent Tommy John surgery midway through 2017, which eventually made him miss the entire 2018 campaign while he recovered.

The Toronto Blue Jays may have a few open spots in the rotation come Spring Training, with some high-risk, high-reward options potentially on the market this winter.

He did miss a chunk of the 2019 and 2020 seasons after being suspended by the league in September 2019 for using a diuretic that is banned due to its usage in masking performance-enhancing drugs, limiting him to just 26 starts between both campaigns (given last year was shortened due to COVID-19).

While the injury past is there and the suspension history present as well, Pineda has not slowed down since joining the Twins, posting a 3.80 ERA through three seasons and 52 starts with Minnesota, his 2021 numbers being some of the best of his career.

The risk associated with Pineda has less to do with the suspension history and more to do with whether he can stay healthy enough to contribute through a full season, as he has missed time on the injured list on five different occasions over the past three years.

A deal for Pineda has the potential to turn ugly similar to when the club signed Tanner Roark but could also produce a low-cost back-end starter that provides upside over the Blue Jays internal options, especially if he can pitch to a sub-4.00 ERA like he did last season.

Proceed with caution.