4 needs the Toronto Blue Jays still need to cross off their wish list this offseason

Add more starting pitching depth

Last season, the Jays had the likes of Zach Thompson, Casey Lawrence and Mitch White acting as starting pitching depth for the organization behind the big five that started in the majors. When Alek Manoah faltered in his game early on in 2023, there was no proven depth starter in the minor leagues that the management ended up trusting, leading to a point in time where the Jays resorted to a four-man starting rotation. They were fortunate to somehow survive it without burning out Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt and Yusei Kikuchi, but they may not be as lucky if a similar scenario arises again in 2024.

Currently, if we take a closer look at who is currently available on their Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons’ roster as starting pitching depth, the average Jays fan will probably not recognize a single name on the list other than top prospect Ricky Tiedemann. If that doesn’t sound the alarm bells for the Jays to acquire some starting pitching depth, then we can all be prepared for a rough 2024 season ahead.

Among those that can still be found in the free agent market, former Detroit Tigers’ pitchers Matthew Boyd and Spencer Turnbull could be ideal pickups given some of their prior success a couple seasons ago. For the two solid veteran pitchers, one can expect them to eat some innings while carrying an ERA that should hover around 4.00. One more intriguing candidate would be “Thor” himself in Noah Syndergaard. He may not be the dominant strikeout pitcher he once was, but with a little Pete Walker magic mixed in to help him make the right adjustments, he could be a low-risk, high-reward reclamation project that can help the club down the road when called upon.