ORLANDO, Fla. — The additions of Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce, whose agreement is still being finalized, along with Shane Bieber’s return clearly makes reunions with Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer less likely for the Toronto Blue Jays, although nothing should be ruled out.
The 36-year-old Bassitt was an essential part of the club’s rebound from worst to first last season and still wants to start, despite some intriguing post-season work out of the bullpen. He’s believed to have enough interest from other clubs to find such an opportunity.
At the same time, he’s beloved within the Toronto clubhouse so if he wanted to return later in the off-season and there was a need, it likely wouldn’t take much to start a serious discussion.
As for Scherzer, he may very well end up in San Francisco with new manager Tony Vitello, his college pitching coach at the University of Missouri, and seek to pitch an entire season, something the 41-year-old feels capable of doing.
But depending what opportunities emerge for Scherzer this off-season, one interesting possibility for the Hall-of-Fame-bound right-hander could be borrowing from the playbook of David Roberston, who signed a pro-rated $16-million deal last July 21 with the Philadelphia Phillies, and rejoining a team like the Blue Jays in the middle of the summer.
Scherzer’s impact on the organization both on and off the field are highly valued, which could spur a creative arrangement.
At the moment, the Blue Jays project to have surplus in the rotation, with Cease, Ponce and Bieber joining incumbents Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, Jose Berrios and potential swingmen Eric Lauer and Bowden Francis.
Still, pitching attrition is nearly always high and Ross Atkins said this week that the Blue Jays are currently taking it week-to-week with Bieber (Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reported that he experienced forearm fatigue although the right-hander being ready for opening day “is a very realistic outcome,” the GM added.
That’s also why the durability Berrios offers is so valuable and why the club’s focus is on helping him rebound from a difficult second half during which he had elbow issues. The right-hander was “not happy” about being pulled from the rotation and left the team during the World Series, but rather than trading him the Blue Jays appear motivated to work with him.
A deal there would also be complicated by the $66 million he’s owed over the next three years — he has an opt out after next season but is due $24 million in each of 2027 and 2028 with innings-pitched escalators that could push those salaries higher — which makes getting him back to form the priority.
One way or another, the Blue Jays remain open to adding further pitching capable of starting and their interest in free agent Brad Keller is also interesting within that context. Keller, a free agent who posted a 2.07 ERA in 69.2 innings with the Cubs this past season, is a former starter who has been drawing interest as both a starter and a reliever. Whichever team adds him will gain flexibility heading into the 2026 season.
The Blue Jays know well how today’s surplus can become tomorrow’s deficit, the main reason pitching was their priority entering the off-season and remains an area of interest as they leave the Winter Meetings.
Seen and heard in the hallways and lobbies at the winter meetings:
• The Royals are believed to have pursued former Blue Jays hitting coach Hunter Mense before he landed with the Giants as their new hitting coach. Blue Jays people describe Mense, who played with Scherzer and for Vitello at Missouri, as an integral part of their offensive game planning and preparation along with hitting coach David Popkins and assistant hitting coach Lou Iannotti. Mense’s replacement on the Blue Jays staff is expected to be Cody Atkinson, who comes over from the Texas Rangers where he oversaw their minor-league program as director of hitting.
• An executive familiar with the relief market said Edwin Diaz initially sought a five-year deal before reaching agreement with the Dodgers on a three-year, $69 million contract. The structure allowed Los Angeles to limit the term while also giving Diaz more than the $38 million over two years he opted out of with the Mets, along with the highest average-annual value for a reliever. The Blue Jays were involved to some degree, but the final price likely landed beyond their comfort zone.
• Speaking of closers, Blue Jays manager John Schneider backed Jeff Hoffman, who gave up a game-tying home run to Miguel Rojas in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series. In Schneider’s view, Hoffman was “elite” in October and “there wasn’t another guy that I wanted out there in that situation to get four outs to win the World Series.” The manager said he expects Hoffman to rebound without any issues in 2026. “Baseball happens.”
