The Toronto Blue Jays have done nothing but add to their lineup this MLB offseason. While the baseball world has been wondering about how they will replace Bo Bichette, they’ve been making other moves. Cody Ponce and Dylan Cease are now part of a dynamite rotation. Tyler Rogers was added to the bullpen to aid in the late-game innings. At the beginning of the offseason, the available closers were Edwin Diaz, Robert Suarez, Pete Fairbanks, Evan Phillips, Kenley Jensen, Steve Armstrong, and Devin Williams.
Now, there are only Fairbanks and Phillips left.
The MLB is wondering how they can sign one of Bichette, Kyle Tucker, and Alex Bregman. However, the Blue Jays could pull off a sneaky addition to challenge Jeff Hoffman. One MLB analyst has suggested signing Phillips over Fairbanks.
Toronto Blue Jays Urged to Sign Evan Phillips
Jordan Leandre of Just Baseball believes that the Blue Jays need to sign Phillips to cap their offseason.
“Phillips made just seven appearances in 2025 before an elbow injury ended his season,” Leandre wrote on December 20th, 2025. “While his recovery makes him likely to miss most of the 2026 season, there’s a chance he’d be ready for the stretch run in September.”
“Since 2022, the 31-year-old right-hander has ranked sixth in reliever ERA among qualifiers.”
In 2025, Phillips recorded two holds, one save, and six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. During the 2024 season, he had nine holds, 18 saves, and 63 strikeouts while posting a 3.62 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP.
According to Savant, the sweeper is his primary pitch. In 2025, he threw his sweeper 53.3 percent of the time, while in 2024, he threw it 38.6 percent of the time.
Why Phillips is a Better Fit Than Pete Fairbanks
Phillips last played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who added Diaz to become their new closer for 2026. Combine that with Phillips’ recovery from Tommy John, and that explains his availability.
Fairbanks is the other big closer left on the open market. While Fairbanks seems like an easy choice for the Blue Jays to make, is he better than Phillips?
Let’s take a look at how the two relievers stack up against each other.
Fairbanks vs Phillips: Stats
Comparing their stats requires looking at the 2024, 2023, and 2022 seasons for Phillips and the 2025, 2024, and 2023 seasons for Fairbanks. Some interesting items emerge.
For starters, they have both allowed 14 home runs over their last three seasons. So neither has the edge over the other in that department.
As far as holds and saves go, Phillips has more holds, while Fairbanks has more saves. Phillips has 34 holds and 44 saves over those three years. Comparatively, Fairbanks has 75 saves and three holds.
All this really tells us is that Phillips has been more of a setup arm in his career, while Fairbanks has been an incumbent closer. Looking at more statistics tells a deeper story.
In 2024, he posted a hard hit percentage of 32.7, the lowest of all the Dodgers pitchers. That put him in the top nine percent across the entire MLB.
Alternatively, Fairbanks’ hard hit percentage was 42.8, the seventh-best on the Tampa Bay Rays pitching staff. So Phillips gets the edge on this metric.
Additionally, Phillips walks batters at a much lower rate than Fairbanks.
Phillips has a walk percentage of 6.4, 5.6, and 7.5 over his last three full seasons. Fairbanks owns a walk percentage of 10.9, 9.2, and 7.4 in his previous three years.
Fairbanks vs Phillips: Health & Injury Concerns
In 2025, Phillips began the season on the IL because of a rotator cuff strain. Then he underwent Tommy John surgery in June. Other than those two ailments, he’s been relatively healthy.
Fairbanks, on the other hand, is a bit more complicated. The former Rays closer suffers from Raynaud’s syndrome, which restricts blood flow to the fingers in cold weather. This blood flow restriction can cause numbness in the fingers and prevent him from gripping the ball properly.
Unfortunately for Fairbanks, the most crucial time of year for health is September and October. In Canada, there is often snow on the ground for Halloween.
This might be the most significant factor inhibiting Fairbanks from being a good fit for the Blue Jays. However, Phillips’ not being available at the start of Spring Training does not work in his favor.
Fairbanks vs Phillips: Contract Projections
Before he was non-tendered by the Dodgers, Phillips had a $6.1 million projected salary through arbitration.
According to Spotrac, Fairbanks’ market value is approximately $14.6 million per season.
With all things considered (stats, health, salary), Phillips is the better fit for the Blue Jays than Fairbanks. Although not being ready for Spring Training could be seen as a negative, it’s actually the opposite.
By the time Phillips is game-ready, the Blue Jays will know precisely what they need. Do they need to hand the closer role to someone else for a stretch? Do they need a new setup arm to pave the way for the closer? These are all things they will know once he is ready to play.
Add to the mix his desire for a one-year deal, and Toronto makes perfect sense. What better way to rebuild your value than by (potentially) helping the Blue Jays reach the World Series again?
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Blue Jays Look to Add Surprising Free Agent as Jeff Hoffman Upgrade appeared first on Heavy Sports.