The Toronto Blue Jays are moving on from a heartbreaking World Series defeat at the bats of the Los Angeles Dodgers. With a qualifying offer extended to Bo Bichette and Shane Bieber exercising his player option to stay in Toronto, the next step is exploring the free agent and trade markets.
The Blue Jays are expected to be aggressive in extending their World Series window. At the top of their list is to grab more high-level arms to strengthen their pitching depth. A new report has linked Toronto to Pete Fairbanks.
Toronto Blue Jays Linked to Pete Fairbanks
A new report reveals some details regarding Fairbanks, which links him to two organizations.
“But even in a free-agent market that includes closers Edwin Díaz, Devin Williams, and Robert Suárez, Fairbanks should attract considerable interest,” Ken Rosenthal wrote for The Athletic on November 11, 2025. “With the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays among his expected suitors.”
This information comes around a week after the Tampa Bay Rays declined an $11 million club option.
According to Rosenthal, the Rays had wanted to part ways with Fairbanks sooner, but they didn’t receive any offers that made sense to them.
“For all their activity, the Rays never parted with closer Pete Fairbanks,” Rosenthal wrote. “It’s not that they were terribly attached to him. They just could never get the return they wanted, according to sources briefed on their discussions. The difficulty in trading Fairbanks helps explain why the Rays declined his $11 million club option.”
From the Rays’ perspective, one reason for the move was financial.
“For the Rays, getting stuck with Fairbanks at $11 million if they again failed to move him later in the offseason would have been an unacceptable outcome,” Rosenthal reasoned. “Even under new ownership, the team is expected to continue operating on a limited budget.”
Fortunately, for the Blue Jays (or another team) this presents a great opportunity.
Jeff Hoffman Open to New Role
Blue Jays GM, Ross Atkins, spoke to the media earlier in November and revealed his thoughts on the team’s current closer, Jeff Hoffman.
“The great thing about Jeff is that he’s not married to that,” Atkins said via Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. “Talking about that cohesion and the team approach, he epitomizes it. I think he would be open to anything that makes us better.”
Hoffman finished the season with a 9-7 record, 30 saves, 84 strikeouts, a 1.19 WHIP, and a 4.37 ERA in 68 innings of work. Unfortunately, his achilles heel was the opposing batters tendency to land home runs.
Compared to the rest of the MLB, Hoffman’s 15 home runs are the second most amongst relief pitchers. Jackson Rutledge of the Washington Nationals is the only reliever who allowed more home runs.
Would Fairbanks Be a Better Option For Blue Jays?
GettyPete Fairbanks
Fairbanks could offer the Blue Jays with a better closer. He has more experience in the role and does not suffer from the same home run affliction that Hoffman does.
The 31-year-old closer finished the 2025 season with over 20 saves for the third consecutive year. Fairbanks ended the year with a 4-5 record, 27 saves, 59 strikeouts, a 1.04 WHIP, and a 2.83 ERA in 60.1 innings of work. Unlike Hoffman, he only surrendered seven home runs.
According to Spotrac, Fairbanks market value is a three-year, $41.3 million deal.
Spending that much money on a closer should not be out of the question for a big-market MLB organization. Adding Fairbanks to the bullpen affords the team the luxury of moving Hoffman into a better suited role.
Hoffman enjoyed the greatest success of his career in a role as the set-up reliever. While with the Philadelphia Phillies in the two seasons prior to joining the Blue Jays, he boasted 32 holds while only allowing nine home runs. Additionally, he had ERAs of 2.41 (2023) and 2.17 (2024) to go along with 69 and 89 strikeouts, respectively.
If the Blue Jays can lock Fairbanks down and move to Hoffman to his better suited set-up role, Toronto can do a lot of damage in the upcoming season and beyond.
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