Buzz is building as Blue Jays have in-person meeting with best free agent pitcher

While the baseball world waits for Juan Soto to decide where he'll spent the next 10 to 15 years of his career, the Toronto Blue Jays are taking advantage of the Soto-sized distraction for other free-spending clubs around the league.

According to MLB Network's Jon Morosi, the Blue Jays have reportedly already had an in-person meeting with Corbin Burnes, who is widely considered to be the best-available starting pitcher on the open market.

This news is most welcomed for followers of the Blue Jays, as all this talk about being "in on" every single one of the top free agents was just beginning to eat away at the fanbase's collective mental health.

Blue Jays hold in-person meeting with Corbin Burnes

On the surface, the Blue Jays don't stick out as a team in need of starting pitching, but the truth is they could use another arm. The top-four in the 2025 starting rotation is already set with Kevin Gausman-Jose Berrios-Bowden Francis-Chris Bassitt forming the quartet. That leaves Yariel Rodriguez, who had an impressive rookie showing in 2024, as the current fifth starter.

Rodriguez, 27, has felt like a long-term reliever from the get-go, and his short outings throughout this past season all but confirmed that he'd do well in a long-relief role and perhaps even a closer's role down the line.

With Alek Manoah slated to be on the shelf for the vast majority of the upcoming season, this leaves the Blue Jays with five starters for five spots. The need for another could not possibly be more obvious. A Burnes signing would shift Rodriguez to the sixth-starter role/long-relief option and would immediately round out the rotation with some depth that's currently not there.

Burnes, 30, has a reputation that speaks for itself. The right-hander has made three straight 32-plus-start seasons and has been an All-Star in four straight. This past season in what could be his only as a member of the Baltimore Orioles, Burnes went 15-9 with a 2.92 ERA and 128 ERA+ that puts his overall production at 28 percent better than league-average.

The 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner has been a clear-cut ace for years now and he'd instantly make the Blue Jays' rotation one of the more promising ones in the American League. With Gausman, Berrios and Francis forming one of the game's best trios down the stretch this past year, it's exciting to think about what a Burnes addition and perhaps a Bassitt bounce-back would do for this team in the upcoming season.