The Toronto Blue Jays used 16 different pitchers last season to start games and relied heavily on bullpen days or depth guys to get them through some tough stretches.

Injuries were the main culprit for the double-digit number of pitchers to grace the mound in the first inning: Cody Ponce, Bowden Francis, Jose Berrios, and Shane Bieber missed a large part (or all in Berrios and Francis’s case) of the regular season. Trey Yesavage also landed on the IL a handful of times, adding some insult to injury.

Heading into 2027, the Jays’ rotation has some question marks that will need to be answered.

These will all need to be answered come next season, whenever it starts post-CBA discussions. In theory, the Jays have a couple of locks: Dylan Cease, Jose Soriano, and Yesavage – but the remaining two spots are for the taking. While the Jays are likely going to be ‘rumoured’ or ‘interested’ in top names like Tarik Skubal and Freddy Peralta, it is also not out of the question that the club pivots to some back-end stabilizers and focuses more big-dollar free agent money on some power bats to address other issues on the roster.

If the club does decide that the Skubal/Peralta types cost too much, there are a few names to consider on the free agent front that might fit into Toronto’s wheelhouse.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

The Toronto Blue Jays signed Kevin Gausman to a five-year deal, and the veteran right-hander delivered on his end of the bargain until the Jays dealt him at the 2026 trade deadline. Across five seasons, he posted a 3.62 ERA and a 3.20 FIP through 861 innings and made 148 starts during his time North of the border.

While the tabloids are gearing towards Gausman selling his Toronto mansion, make no mistake: the Gausman family loved their time with the Blue Jays. There have also been some rumblings that the right-hander might call it a career this winter, which he’s earned after a 14-year journey that has seen its fair share of ups and downs.

At 36 years old, Gausman’s glory days are likely behind him when it comes to flirting with the Cy Young votes, but he brings stability to a rotation that really needs some after a tumultuous 2026 season (that included him for almost all of it). A short-term deal works here to bridge the gap between some of the internal options who might not be ready and provides insurance if some of the other bullpen vs. starter options don’t pan out.

Across seven seasons, most of which were spent with the Mets, Peterson made 147 trips to the mound, with 123 coming in the first inning. He’s hit double-digit starts in all but two seasons, one of which was the shortened COVID campaign and the other being last year before he was traded to the Cubs mid-summer.

Peterson isn’t the flashiest name on the free agent wire, but he’s solid when healthy. He struggled with the Mets last year (6.09 ERA across 68 innings, although he posted a 3.85 FIP) but was dialled in post-trade, appearing in 16 games (15 starts) and allowing just 35 runs across 80.1 innings to the tune of a 3.70 ERA and a 4.06 FIP.

The only real wart to his game is the high contact, owning a career 8.8 H/9 through seven seasons in the big leagues. But he’s also a groundball machine, amassing a 50.8% rate last season. This bodes well for a Jays infield that can handle its own on the diamond, and considering the Jays rotation currently doesn’t boast a left-handed option unless Tiedemann cracks the roster, someone like Peterson could find himself with the Jays this winter.

I lump Soroka and Bieber together because of their similar profiles. When healthy, they can be absolute dynamite on the field, but both have an asterisk beside them when it comes to being available for a full season.

Soroka dealt with Achilles tendon issues years ago, and since then, numerous ailments have sent him to the sidelines every year he has been a major league pitcher. His season high innings pitched mark is 174.2, which came during his sophomore campaign in 2019 when he made 29 starts. He struggled to carve out a starter’s role across a few different organizations but really found his stride in the desert this past year, posting a 3.41 ERA and a 3.19 FIP through 22 outings (21 starts) with the Diamondbacks. His pre-Achilles injuries with the Braves were also nothing to sneeze at, either.

Blue Jays fans are aware of Bieber and his track record, and while the shock of his return last year waned after he landed on the IL to start the campaign, he eventually made 11 starts down the stretch with a 4.37 ERA and a 1.419 WHIP. When healthy, history shows that Bieber can be an effective arm – even outside of his Cy Young season during the shortened campaign in 2020.

Both players are risky, but considering the Jays have players like Francis, Miles, Arrighetti, and Tiedemann vying for a rotation spot, the front office can take some risks here to bet on either being healthy for an entire season with some form of a backup plan in place. Soroka also has a mutual option, and considering he found success in Arizona, he might not even be an option if he chooses to opt in to his $10 million contract (as long as the D-backs don’t disagree).

The injury risk is there, but sometimes the risk pans out. It’s just whether or not the front office is willing to potentially get burned again.

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