The Toronto Blue Jays need to keep putting the pedal to the metal. For most of the offseason, the Blue Jays have chased the top free agent starting pitchers and largely come up empty. The need for pitching is still present, and the Jays must continue filling out the depth of their starting rotation.
The most disappointing miss of the winter was the Corbin Burnes sweepstakes. In the end, it seems that Burnes simply wanted to be close to his home in Arizona. The Blue Jays frustratingly didn’t even make an offer on a player that the New York Yankees bestowed the richest contract ever for a left-handed pitcher upon in Max Fried. Options like Walker Buehler and Shane Bieber also slipped under Toronto’s noses during the early stages of the offseason.
Now, the masters of pivoting need to focus their attention squarely on left-handed pitchers Jose Quintana and Andrew Heaney. These are two gentleman that could be signed right now would fit into what Toronto is targeting. The Blue Jays have a strong front four of Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios and hopefully Bowden Francis. You guessed it: all four of these individuals throw from the right side.
Blue Jays need to pick a reliable lefty starter to round out rotation in MLB free agency
The addition of either Quintana or Heaney could also push Yariel Rodriguez into a position that may serve him extremely well. Further rotation depth will hedge against the inevitable pitching injuries that pop up over the course of a long season. The Blue Jays have experienced injury luck (at the major league level) that won’t last forever. One of the underrated aspects to this season may be how negative the projection systems have become on the starting pitching staff in particular.
The 36-year-old Quintana just wrapped up his second year as a member of the New York Mets. He turned in a typical Jose Quintana season, rebounding from an injury-plagued 2023 to post a 3.75 ERA (105 ERA+) in 31 games started. Quintana has a 3.74 career ERA in 13 seasons for seven different clubs. This is a pitcher with numerous seasons of 30+ games started on his resume. While a 4.56 FIP and unimpressive underlying numbers may not get fans particularly excited, Quintana’s numbers have been better since a disastrous 2021 season.
The age should work against him getting a lengthy deal, but the Colombian can fill an extremely valuable role in the back of Toronto’s rotation. He will eat innings for a staff that needs them. Plus, he has experience in the postseason, which is something Toronto still seems to be striving towards.
The 33-year old Heaney started an identical 31 games for the Texas Rangers last year, but posted a higher ERA of 4.28. His 4.04 FIP may actually indicate that better Toronto defense could serve as a boon to his overall run prevention. Looking further, Heaney struck out 22.9% of batters faced and limited walks to a 5.9% clip. Those numbers are better than league average, and point to something sustainable. There will be concerns about Heaney’s injury history, but the last two years paint a different story.
Bottom line, these are two pitchers that people aren’t going to get excited about. They don’t have to be. Quintana has been the slightly more successful pitcher, but they have both been around the block for a long time. The lengthier track record of success for Quintana may be worth more on a one- or two-year pact. These contracts should allow the Blue Jays to remain nimble in other areas.
It’s the kind of acquisition that the Blue Jays can easily move on from during the July trade deadline if things are not working out. The Blue Jays can learn something from the Los Angeles Dodgers, who never seem to stop adding players. Even with one of these southpaws in tow, Toronto will still need a LOT of things to go right in order to have a successful season in 2025