{"id":552729,"date":"2026-02-03T18:57:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T18:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/552729\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T18:57:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T18:57:19","slug":"blue-jays-predicted-to-sign-200m-southpaw-ace-world-series-champion-to-anchor-future-rotation-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/552729\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays predicted to sign $200M southpaw ace, World Series champion to anchor future rotation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blue Jays predicted to sign $200M southpaw ace, World Series champion to anchor future rotation<\/a> originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/a>. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> were just one win away from claiming the 2025 World Series, but the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> won two straight games to deny them the title. A controversial call in Game 6 could have swung the series in the Blue Jays\u2019 favor, but instead, it may go down as one of the most debated calls in World Series history.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe fact this is ruled a \u2018lodged ball\u2019 but then the CF has no problem picking it up and throwing it in is dumb. He didn\u2019t even make an effort to grab it right away. Blue Jays might have gotten screwed,\u201d Andress posted.<\/p>\n

Since the World Series, the Blue Jays have had a productive offseason. They could continue building by adding Framber Valdez.<\/p>\n

\u201cToronto clearly has money to spend, evidenced by its serious bid for Kyle Tucker. Whether the Blue Jays want to spend it on a pitcher remains to be seen, but with their current all-right-handed rotation, bringing in a proven left-hander could be appealing. Also of note: Gausman and Bieber are slated to become free agents next winter, so signing Valdez would help stabilize the rotation for 2027 and beyond,\u201d MLB.com\u2019s Mark Feinsand wrote.<\/a><\/p>\n

Valdez was once projected to be the top starter on the market, but circumstances from last season have altered that perception.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWith his performance on the mound, Valdez was in line to be paid at the top of the market, and that’s a level of spending the Astros have rarely reached when it comes to older starting pitchers. What clouded his free agency is that he seemed to have intentionally crossed up his catcher, and if that wasn’t enough, he had a willingness over the summer to question Houston’s coaching staff,\u201d CTH\u2019s Jordan Campbell wrote.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Blue Jays have a strong rotation but few left-handed options. Toronto is aiming to return to the World Series, and Valdez\u2019s experience could be a major boost.<\/p>\n

This season, the Blue Jays will be hungrier than ever. Their starting rotation could carry them deep into the postseason, and adding Valdez might prove to be the most impactful free-agent signing if it comes to fruition.<\/p>\n

More MLB news:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blue Jays predicted to sign $200M southpaw ace, World Series champion to anchor future rotation originally appeared on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":552730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2378],"tags":[42,5,5737,377,2554,79,18759,139,29,57,4,1414,282,70,2553,1039],"class_list":["post-552729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto-blue-jays","tag-astros","tag-baseball","tag-bieber","tag-blue-jays","tag-bluejays","tag-framber-valdez","tag-gausman","tag-houston","tag-kyle-tucker","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-mlb","tag-the-blue-jays","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-blue-jays","tag-torontobluejays","tag-world-series"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116008232516381114","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}