Blue Jays now have one of AL's best pitching rotations after latest signing

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Toronto Blue Jays have one of the best rotations in the American League heading into Opening Day.

Yes, this sounds like a broken record, but after signing veteran Chris Bassitt to a three-year contact, Toronto once again owns one of the best starting fives in the AL. It’s true, really!

Last offseason, the Blue Jays were aggressive in their starting pitching pursuits, while this winter has been more of a wait-and-see approach. They watched Justin Verlander sign with the Mets, Andrew Heaney sign with the Rangers, and even Kyle Gibson go to the Orioles.

Reports revealed the Blue Jays had interest in all three arms, but they settled on the 33-year-old Bassitt to fill the void left by Ross Stripling. While it may not be the sexiest signing, bringing Bassitt aboard is an upgrade to Toronto’s starting five.

Despite some rocky seasons by Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi, the Blue Jays had one of the better starting rotations in the American League in 2022. And 2023 looks to be more of the same with forecasted contributions from Alek Manoah, Kevin Gausman, and the aforementioned Bassitt.

How do the Blue Jays stack up against the rest of the American League? Here’s where the starting rotation projections fall for the 2023 season, via Steamer’s projection system.

This may come as a surprise to some, but the Texas Rangers lead the way in fWAR pitching projections with 13.3 as a staff. The Rangers overhauled their pitching staff in by inking Jacob deGrom and Andrew Heaney, which could help turn Texas’ fortunes around in a big way in 2023.

In second place are the Tampa Bay Rays, who perennially have one of the best stables of arms in baseball. Shane McClanahan was a breakout candidate in 2022 and the return of Tyler Glasnow will play a huge factor into the Rays’ chances this year.

Rounding out the top three starting pitching projections are the Toronto Blue Jays with 12 fWAR, just barely ahead of the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels, both tied at 11.9 fWAR for their starting rotations.

Gausman (3.7 fWAR), Manoah (2.6 fWAR), Bassitt (2.5 fWAR), Berrios (2.0 fWAR), and Kikuchi (1.2 fWAR) round out Toronto’s top five. Steamer projections forecast a step back for Manoah, while they expect Berrios and Kikuchi to put forth bounce-back campaigns.

That projection of 12 fWAR for the Blue Jays’ starting rotation might be a little on the low side, and there are many scenarios where the team could easily exceed that projection in 2023.

If Berrios has any semblance of consistency this season and Kikuchi is anything less than a wild card every five days, Toronto’s starting rotation might be stronger on paper this year compared to last year.

Although it took them a while to get their first few signings out of the way, the Blue Jays might not be done shopping for pitchers yet. At the top of the market, Carlos Rodon is still available, but a few tiers down there’s Nathan Eovaldi, Corey Kluber, Noah Syndergaard, and Michael Wacha.

All of those mid-to-back-end rotation names would be an improvement upon Kikuchi, and Toronto still needs to build upon their starting pitching depth. But if they roll into Spring Training 2023 with those five guys, they’ll have a decent starting five.

It may not be as good as the starting rotations of the Rangers or the Rays, but after inking Bassitt to that three-year deal, the Blue Jays proved once again that they’re not afraid to spend cold, hard cash to upgrade their starting rotation.

This organization poured $80 million into Hyun-Jin Ryu, $131 million into Berrios, $110 million into Gausman, $36 million into Kikuchi, and now $63 million into Bassitt. That’s $420 million invested into starting pitching over the last four offseasons.

Not every investment has returned dividends so far, but there are rarely discounts in the starting pitching department. Often, teams get what they pay for. And the Blue Jays are hoping they get a World Series-calibre rotation out of this crew in 2023.

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