The Toronto Blue Jays have been one of the most active teams in baseball this offseason when it comes to the starting rotation.
To sum up, Toronto signed Dylan Cease to a seven-year deal and reportedly reached agreement on a three-year deal with fellow starter Cody Ponce. The Blue Jays needed some pitching and have been on the prowl. Part of the reason why the Blue Jays needed pitching was because two pieces of the rotation from the 2025 team are free agents right now, in Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt.
Bassitt spent three seasons with the organization. The 2025 campaign was Scherzer’s lone one as a member of the Blue Jays. It will be interesting to see if Toronto brings either back after already adding pitching elsewhere. If Scherzer isn’t back in Toronto in 2026, ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote that there is a “presumption” that he could join the San Francisco Giants.
“Now that Dylan Cease has signed, which big-name aces could move next? It depends on your definition of ‘big-name.’ Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, future Hall of Famers, will find landing spots, but they are on the downslopes of their remarkable careers; they can wait, and there is a presumption that Scherzer could pitch for his good friend and new San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello,” Olney wrote on Friday.
This isn’t the first time an insider has mentioned Scherzer with the Giants. The Athletic’s Jim Bowden reported that “most in the industry” think Scherzer will sign with the Giants if he’s not back with Toronto.
