It’s widely expected the Toronto Blue Jays will acquire at least one starting pitcher this off-season. The only mystery is which hurler they’ll ultimately land, and it appears there’s another potential candidate on their list.

According to Z101 Digital’s Héctor Gómez, the franchise has expressed interest in free-agent left-hander Jose Quintana, adding that contract discussions have recently intensified with the 35-year-old southpaw.

Quintana signed a two-year, $26-million contract with the New York Mets ahead of the 2023 campaign. The Athletic projects him to earn a similar multi-year deal this winter worth $28 million over two seasons.

The left-handed starter struggled to stay healthy during Year 1 in Queens, but he enjoyed far more success last season, pitching to a 3.75 ERA with 135 strikeouts over 31 starts. He was worth a respectable 1.0 fWAR across 170.1 innings, the most he’s thrown since 2019 (171).

Following a mediocre first half, Quintana found his stride over the final three months, posting a 2.98 ERA and 70 punchouts over his final 15 starts. In that span, he tossed six innings over more in eight of those 15 outings.

When healthy, the veteran lefty has proven effective as a mid-to-back-end starter, accounting for at least 3.0 fWAR in seven of his 13 career MLB seasons, including a four-win campaign in 2022. But, the problem has been keeping him on the field, as he missed considerable time due to injury during the ’20, ’21 and ’23 seasons.

At this stage of his career, Quintana is considered well below average at generating swing-and-miss, but he induces plenty of ground balls (48.2 per cent in ’24, 79th percentile) and misses barrels (6.7 per cent, 70th percentile).

The 6-foot-1 hurler features a five-pitch arsenal, using his low-90s sinker and four-seamer with his curveball and changeup in a balanced attack against righties. His repertoire also includes a slurve, which he almost exclusively throws versus lefties.

Signing Quintana wouldn’t be a splashy move for Toronto. However, he’d improve the floor of next season’s rotation as a reliable fourth or fifth starter.