In the span of just a few hours, the Blue Jays missed out on two free agents that would turn the team around completely. Friday night, Toronto watched former Blue Jay Teoscar Hernandez sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers on a very affordable contract. A few hours later, Corbin Burnes reportedly signed a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Burnes signed a six year contract worth $210 million, which was completely in range for Toronto to make a splash, especially after they saved a ton missing out on Juan Soto. The Blue Jays were a finalist for Burnes, but evidently did not have as strong of a chance as Arizona did after a report about the contract offer he got from Toronto.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Blue Jays and Giants actually offered Burnes more money than the Diamondbacks, but he decided to stay in his home state of Arizona.
Blue Jays miss out on an ace caliber arm in Corbin Burnes and are forced to look elsewhere in free agency
Burnes would have instantly been an ace in Toronto's rotation and would have pushed Yariel Rodriguez to the bullpen. Multiple people projected him to sign with the Blue Jays as well, such as Ken Rosenthal and Jim Bowden.
Last season in Baltimore, Burnes posted an earned run average of 2.92 with a FIP of 3.55 across 194.1 innings and struck out 181 batters. Opposing hitters batted just .225 against him and he walked opponents at a 6.1% clip to generate a WHIP of 1.10.
The Blue Jays will once again have to pivot to another target through free agency. Alex Bregman is still not signed and would be a major addition to the lineup. He has been labeled to Toronto multiple times this offseason, but he is still not signed.
If they still want to be active in the pitching market, Jack Flaherty is a notable name that is still available and would make an impact to the starting rotation. We will see what Toronto will eventually do, but they have missed a ton of major free agents this offseason and it keeps adding up.