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Blue Jays recently held in-person meeting with top free agent: report

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
|
Dec 5 2024, 4:31 pm
Blue Jays recently held in-person meeting with top free agent: report
Tommy Gilligan/Imagn Images

The Toronto Blue Jays front office doesn’t appear to be messing around in their goal of improving their roster via free agency.

The Blue Jays, who finished last season with a disappointing 74-88 record, are said to be in on a number of top free agents, including the biggest of the bunch in Juan Soto.

Soto by no means seems to be their only target, however, as they’ve also been linked to some top-tier starting pitchers. As per a recent report from MLB insider Ken Rosenthal, they even recently held an in-person meeting with who most consider the best starting pitcher available, Corbin Burnes.

This isn’t the first time the Blue Jays have been linked to Burnes. It was mentioned weeks ago that they were interested in him, along with Max Fried and Blake Snell. Snell has since signed with the LA Dodgers, while Fried remains on the free-agent market.

Burnes, who was an All-Star for the fourth consecutive year in 2024, is coming off of a season in which he posted a robust 2.92 ERA along with a 15-9 record through 32 starts. The now-former Baltimore Oriole wound up finishing fifth in AL Cy Young voting.

Prior to joining the Orioles ahead of the 2024 season, Burnes spent six seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. He has a 3.19 ERA throughout the course of his seven-year MLB career, during which time he’s racked up 1,051 strikeouts.

Adding Burnes would complement what is already a solid starting rotation for the Blue Jays. Despite some struggles in 2024, they have some reliable veteran arms in Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, and Jose Berrios.

There’s also Alek Manoah, who rebounded well last season prior to undergoing surgery to repair a torn UCL in early June. Meanwhile, Bowden Francis put up some of the best numbers of all starting pitchers last season, giving him a good opportunity to earn a spot in the rotation in 2025.

While it remains to be seen who the Blue Jays end up adding in free agency, it’s clear that they are willing to spend big dollars to be competitive. Such was the case last offseason, where they reportedly came very close to matching the $700 million deal Shohei Ohtani wound up being handed by the Dodgers.

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