With money to spend and an all-right-handed rotation in place, the Toronto Blue Jays have surfaced as a potential landing spot for a $200 million All-Star left-hander this offseason.
From a long-term standpoint, the fit for Framber Valdez is obvious. With Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber both slated for free agency next winter, committing to a proven left-handed starter now would give Toronto a rotation anchor through 2027 and beyond, while protecting the club from further turnover at the top of its staff, according to longtime MLB insider Mark Feinsand.
Feinsand, in an analysis published by MLB.com on Saturday, named Toronto as a team that appears in line to sign Houston Astros free agent left-hander Valdez, who remains without a team as the calendar turns to February and is considered the best available starting pitcher at this late date.
‘Absurdly Good’ Blue Jays Rotation With Valdez
In the words of another baseball analyst, Zachary Rotman of FanSided, “A rotation featuring Valdez, Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Shane Bieber and Trey Yesavage would be absurdly good, and they’d have a ton of quality depth on top of that.”
But as Feinsand notes, though the Jays rotation already appears to be one of the best in the American League, if not in all of MLB, it currently has a potentially serious flaw. None of the Blue Jays starters are left-handed.
“With their current all-right-handed rotation, bringing in a proven left-hander could be appealing,” Feinsand noted.
But Valdez would not be inserted into the Blue Jays rotation simply to provide a different look every five days. In fact, the two-time All-Star throughout his career has been close to equally effective against both right-handed and left-handed batters. Left-handed hitters, in fact, have held a slight edge against the Dominican native.
Over his eight campaigns, all for the Astros, Valdez has allowed a .643 OPS to right-handed batters, but a .650 OPS to left-handed batters.
Blue Jays Appear to Have the Cash
While the pressure to sign with spring training right around the corner and the start of the season only about six weeks later, Valdez may be forced to sign at least a slight discount. But his asking price will be high no matter what. According to Spotrac, the 32-year-old southpaw’s market value is just under $200 million over a six-year contract â or about $33.3 million per season.
But as Feinsand noted, “Toronto clearly has money to spend, evidenced by its serious bid for Kyle Tucker. Whether the Blue Jays want to spend it on a pitcher remains to be seen.”
The Blue Jays’ reported offer to free agent outfielder Kyle Tucker came in at $35 million per year over 10 seasons. Presumably, as Feinsand stated, that means the Blue Jays have the capacity to spend at least that much, despite already having shelled out $337 million worth of contract commitments this offseason alone.
Valdez, at least according to the Spotrac estimate, would cost somewhat less than Tucker, with a shorter commitment in terms of guaranteed years. But pitchers tend to age more quickly than outfielders, making a direct comparison difficult when it comes to judging contract value.
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