3 players the Blue Jays wish they signed last offseason, 1 they are glad they didn't

One player the Jays thankfully avoided signing this past offseason

Carlos Rodón, New York Yankees

When the Jays were looking to round out their starting pitching, with both Mitch White and Yusei Kikuchi still question marks in the rotation at the time, they expressed some interest in free agent Carlos Rodón, as he was coming off an impressive injury-free season with the San Francisco Giants in which he pitched to a stellar 14-8 record, with a 2.88 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 52 walks and 237 strikeouts in just 178 innings pitched.

With such a performance, the money he was commanding was probably a little outside of the Jays’ comfort zone, so in the end, the New York Yankees swooped in to grab Rodón with a huge six-year, $162 million contract, which definitely was way outside what the Jays would probably offer. That gave the Yankees a fearsome starting five for their rotation and could have eventually become a nightmare for the Jays in 2023.

However, Rodón suffered a forearm strain injury during Spring Training, which was followed by a back issue during the recovery process that has put him out this whole time until his recent season debut on July 7th against the Chicago Cubs. The time that Rodón has missed is probably one of the main reasons why the Yankees are still within shooting distance of the wildcard spot, rather than the division lead, having left that gaping hole in the rotation during all this time. At the same time, the Jays are thankful they didn’t invest in him, as the same effect might have put the Jays further down in the standings, as with that money spent on Rodón, they probably wouldn’t have had any money left to sign anyone else, including Kiermaier and Belt, and we know how much they have been key for the Jays’ success this year.