September 4, 2021; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Teoscar Hernandez (37) with shortstop Bo Bichette (11) and designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) at Rogers Center Celebrate his 100th home run against the Oakland Athletics Team. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-USA Today Sports
The offseason of Major League Baseball is far from over, and even if it is currently stagnant, the Blue Jays must like their divisional opponents' rotation is taking shape.
When they look at their starting lineup, this is clearly the case, and they may not have finished improving that area on the roster. The Jays started the offseason by extending the contract of Jose Berrios for seven years, and then they signed a five-year, $110 million contract with Kevin Gosman. These two top starters will join Hyun Jin Ryu and Alek Manoah to form one of the top rotations in the American League, and they may be the best players in the AFC East. When you consider that they lost Robbie and Steven Matz in the free agency market, you can say that this is a good thing, but Gosman’s signing will definitely help alleviate this situation.
I found myself looking for any baseball news I could find earlier this week, which led me to review all free agent contracts that were signed before the expiration of the last collective bargaining agreement on December 2. I know most of the trades that happen, but when I look back at what the other AL East teams have done so far, I can't help but smile. Likewise, once the new CBA is in place, they can still seek to improve their pitching staff. I expect at least the Yankees will do the same, but so far, these moves are pretty mediocre.
I will start with the Red Sox. They have signed three veterans to join the rotation, including Chris Searle, Nate Evaldi and some talented young players. When he started in the free agency market this winter, they lost Eduardo Rodriguez to the Detroit Tigers, and it looked like they wanted to fill his position with numbers rather than direct substitutions. So far, they have signed Michael Wacha who spent last season with the Tampa Bay Rays, as well as a pair of left-handers from Rich Hill and James Paxton. Hill is an eternal miracle, he will be 42 years old before the start of next season, and Paxton is about to recover from Tommy John surgery and may not be ready for the regular season. As for Wacha, he scored a 5.05 ERA in 29 appearances (23 starts) in 2021 and struggled to -0.7 bWAR. Not exactly the most aggressive approach of the Red Sox front desk.
For the Rays, they rolled the dice on Corey Kluber's former Cy Young Award winner, and he will try his last attempt to restore him to the form that made him one of the best pitchers in the world. The 35-year-old played with the Yankees last season in another game missed due to injury, which allowed him to start 16 games and play 80.0 innings. However, when he is healthy, his efficiency is very high. If the light can keep him on the mound, then he may become a good signer. Otherwise, the only other rumors I have read related to light rotation are speculations about whether Tyler Glasno can be traded.
With all due respect, the other team I worry too much about here is the Yankees, and so far, they really haven't done anything. If you want to see a frustrated group of sports fans, search and read the atmosphere among Yankees fans right away on Twitter. Before the expiration of the CBA, the front office was basically empty-handed, which made them feel uncomfortable. This is understandable, and this is especially worrying, as they may need to upgrade in the shortstop, midfielder, and their own rotation.
The only rotation upgrade the Yankees may be considering is the return of Luis Severino, who made several appearances from the bullpen at the end of the 2021 season. Ideally, he will be able to take on one of the rotations next season, but the Yankees still need a reliable top pitcher to rank behind Gerrit Cole. They hope that Kluber can sign that person with a relatively cheap contract in 2021, but this has not been the case for at least half of the season. If they hope to enter the playoffs again in 2022, they may need to do better this time.
Having said that, there are still quite a few talents among the starters in the East Division that the Blue Jays will have to face. It has never been easy to confront Gerrit Cole, Chris Sale, etc., and this situation will not change anytime soon. In other words, if the other teams in the AFC East can't do more to improve their rotation before next season, I have to think that the Blue Jays like the development of the pitching depth chart they see most often.
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