3 creative moves Blue Jays could still make to sneakily improve their 2025 roster

The Blue Jays should absolutely consider bringing Cal Quantrill back to Canada

Going back to the rotation, the Blue Jays could continue shopping on the free agent market and add to their haul of players whose dads once played in the big leagues. In fact, this player's dad is a former Blue Jay himself.

Cal Quantrill, whose father Paul Quantrill played for the Blue Jays from 1996-2001, earning an All-Star appearance in his final season with Toronto and led the league in appearances in four straight seasons.

The younger Quantrill was non-tendered by the Rockies in November, and is coming off back to back shaky seasons split between Cleveland and Colorado. Over those two years he’s thrown 248 innings with an ERA+ of 88, and a BB/9 rate of 3.6.

So why should the Blue Jays take a flyer on the former first-round pick from Port Hope, Ontario?

It’s because of the flashes of dominance he has shown throughout his career. In the three seasons prior to 2023, from age 25-27 he had an ERA+ of 131, and his BB/9 rate was at 2.5 over 368 innings pitched.

He’s never been a big strikeout guy but in his first two full seasons in Cleveland he posted BABIP numbers of .267 and .278 in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

It was as if his career was mirrored within 2024 alone. Quantrill had a really good three month stretch last year in Colorado between the beginning of May and the All-Star break where he made 15 starts and gave up just nine home runs in 82.1 innings, holding opponents to a .249 batting average against and pitched to a 3.61 ERA.

But over his final eight starts of the season, he pitched into the sixth inning just once while his ERA ballooned to 7.94, allowing 30 earned runs in 34 innings pitched, giving up eight home runs in that stretch.

Interestingly, Quantrill seemed to get better the more the pressure was on him. With runners in scoring position, he kept hitters to a .218 batting average and .246 BABIP, giving up just two home runs all season in those situations.

He seemingly knew how to work out of trouble, with a .185 batting average against and .204 BABIP with men in scoring position and two outs. Mixed with periods of looking below average, Quantrill had a knack for showcasing those flashes of dominance when it was needed.

Quantrill could be a very low-risk, high reward type of signing for Toronto and who knows what his ceiling might be if he works with pitching guru Pete Walker. He probably wouldn't require a major investment to bring in and the upside is real here.

In short, the Blue Jays should target Quantrill to fill the #5 spot in their rotation. This would allow the Blue Jays to do the opposite move to what was suggested in the proposed Cardinals trade, as Toronto could then lean more toward having Yariel Rodriguez go into the bullpen full time.

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