The Toronto Blue Jays struggled in 2012 and as much as their 89 losses can be attributable to the loss of slugger Jose Bautista, it was the starting pitching that was particularly offensive for the Jays.
As should be expected, then, Fox Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi is reporting that Toronto is on the lookout for pitching, and they don’t seem to have many limits in terms of which pitchers they’re going after.
"The Toronto Blue Jays are casting a wide net in their search for rotation upgrades, already showing interest in free agents Zack Greinke, Anibal Sanchez, Kyle Lohse and Ryan Dempster, among others, according to major-league sources."
Morosi later notes that Minnesota’s Scott Baker is another Toronto is in on. Former Jays hurler Shaun Marcum has also be rumored to be on Toronto’s list.
Greinke is one of many targets of the Blue Jays. Image: Jim Cowsert-US PRESSWIRE
Ricky Romero was an absolute mess in 2012 and several others were limited by injuries. The Jays did see flashes of success from rookie Henderson Alvarez, but he struckout only 3.8 batters per nine innings, which will make it awfully difficult to consistently perform well going forward.
Realistically, Toronto could benefit from adding as many as three starters to their rotation for next year, and that’s assuming Romero can be fixed. He had always walked too many hitters, but season walks became the number one source for the southpaw’s struggles. Right hander Brandon Marrow was the only Toronto starter to produce an ERA under 4.50 in 2012.
It remains to be seen whether GM Alex Anthopolous will be authorized to spend big this off-season, but, if Morosi’s list is any indication, it looks like he’ll have some money to play with. Names like Greinke, Sanchez, and Lohse are widely considered to be the top three available arms in this free agent class. Landing even one of them won’t come cheap.