3 overlooked free agents that the Blue Jays should invite to Spring Training

The Toronto Blue Jays have certainly had an eventful offseason to date. Being able to make strong additions with the signings of Dylan Cease, Tyler Rogers, Cody Ponce and Kazuma Okamoto have put the Blue Jays in the driver’s seat to contend once again in 2026.

Nevertheless, even with Spring Training just approaching around the corner, it is never too late for Toronto to continue to make small moves to improve the roster further before the real games begin.

3 overlooked free agents that the Blue Jays should invite to spring training

Jonah Heim 

The Blue Jays may appear to have their catching tandem set already for 2026 with starter Alejandro Kirk and backup Tyler Heineman, after the latter agreed to a one-year, $1.2375 million deal earlier this year to stay with the team. However, going beyond the duo, the organizational depth at the catcher’s position is rather thin, as one would be looking at the likes of Brandon Valenzuela and C.J. Stubbs if either Kirk or Heineman were to go down to any ailments.

As a result, adding a proven elite catcher in the league such as Jonah Heim could potentially pay huge dividends for the Blue Jays. After all, Heim is just a couple of years removed from his All-Star 2023 campaign in which he posted 18 home runs and 95 RBIs over 131 games played.

Not to mention that the 30-year-old catcher is a former Gold Glove winner as well, showing that he could make a difference both with his bat and with his glove. In addition, as an added bonus, Heim can even hit from both sides of the plate as a switch-hitter.

With the relatively weak market for his services, the Blue Jays could ink Heim on a value MLB or MiLB deal and reap the benefits of potentially signing a 1B/catcher to make the position a strength once again for Toronto.

Danny Coulombe

It is quite surprising that Danny Coulombe is actually still available in the free agent market as of this moment. After all, Coulombe had been one of the most consistent relievers in the league for almost the past decade, holding a 3.35 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, striking out close to a batter per inning while giving up only 31 home runs in his career over 316.2 total innings of work.

Most importantly, the 36-year-old veteran has shown no signs of slowing down as he posted a 2.30 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, along with 43 strikeouts in 43 innings pitched over 55 appearances with the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers in 2025.

With the Blue Jays lack of depth in left-handed pitchers in their bullpen behind Brendon Little, Mason Fluharty and swingman Eric Lauer, Coulombe could provide that reliable veteran presence to help dominate left-handed hitters. After all, Coulombe has held lefties to just a .233 average and .596 OPS for his entire MLB career. As a result, it should be time for Toronto to give the 36-year-old reliever a call.

Michael Kopech

Finally, the Blue Jays could surely use an elite, power arm to round out their relief corps. With that, they could take their chances with former first-round pick and World Series champion Michael Kopech. Despite having to deal with injury woes in recent years, Kopech has shown to be dominant when healthy.

Especially during his tenure with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 29-year-old right-hander has posted a 4-0 record with a 1.54 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, along with 41 strikeouts in 35 total innings pitched.

As a result, the Blue Jays could offer up a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training and see how Kopech performs coming off his knee inflammation issues from last season. He could even become big-time closer insurance in the event Jeff Hoffman falters in the role again this season. If Kopech firmly establishes a clean bill of health and deliver the goods that we are used to seeing, he could be a massive sneaky addition to the Blue Jays’ bullpen for 2026.