Blue Jays are staying busy in their offseason

By Olivia Lawrence 

RP Show Intern

The Toronto Blue Jays are in their offseason, but there is still a lot going on within the team, especially in regards to free agency and players deciding to leave, stay, or join. It was just announced on Tuesday that pitcher Steven Matz left the Blue Jays and joined the St. Louis Cardinals on a four-year $44 million contract. Rod Pedersen asked Blue Jays Broadcaster Mike Wilner if the team missed out by not re-signing the pitcher. 

“I mean, with great respect, he would not have been my number one target to resign if I were the Blue Jays”, said Wilner on Wednesday’s episode of The Rod Pedersen Show. “Absolutely, they wouldn’t have gotten to where they were last season without the second-half Steven Matz. But Steven Matz is a guy who had an ERA over nine in 2020, and whatever you think of pitcher wins, didn’t have one. He has a chance to use this year as a jumping off point and be very good, but I would have been very resistant to give him a four year commitment at that kind of money. He was lovely for the Blue Jays and had a lovely year, but there are a lot of Steven Matz’s out there.”

Blue Jays stars Robbie Ray and Marcus Semien rejected qualifying offers from the team, which makes them free agents. Rejecting qualifying offers does not mean the door has closed for the Blue Jays, it just means the team will have to offer the two something good if they want them to stick around. The Blue Jays seem more than willing to do that however, the franchise said they are on everybody in free agency this offseason. 

“They’ve got enough money to sign anybody they want,” said Wilner. “They’ve shown in the last two years that they’re willing to spend big money and big term, you know even last week, they gave Jose Berrios $131 million over seven years to stick around. So if Robby Ray wants to be back in Toronto, he will be back in Toronto. There could be a team that blows a Blue Jays offer out of the water, as I’m sure St. Louis did with Matz. Not just to the Jays offer either, but everybody else’s offer.”

Ray and Semien would be assets to have back in Toronto, both of them are considered to be at the top for free agents. Ray was the recipient of the American League (AL) Cy Young Award for last season, which is given out annually to the best pitchers in baseball. He has also been compared to former Major League Baseball (MLB) star pitcher Randy Johnson, (other than the foot difference in height of course). As for Semien, he placed third for AL MVP for his efforts last season, and won the AL Golden Glove after his first season playing second base, a move from shortstop. 

“I’m sure that the Blue Jays are interested in having Robbie Ray back, and they’re interested in having Marcus Semien back, but they probably won’t be able to get both of them,” said Wilner. “We have to remember that the free agency process is entirely up to the player. So it really doesn’t matter what the Blue Jays do if Robbie Ray or Marcus Semien want to wind up somewhere else.”