The Toronto Blue Jays‘ pitching staff could look much different in 2026.
Toronto’s rotation featured the likes of Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt last season, and both are free agents. Although both expressed interest in returning, it appears neither will return, especially Scherzer.
Blue Jays insider Shi Davidi of Sportsnet appeared on Foul Territory and seemingly closed the door on Scherzer returning.
“He’s going to pitch, and he basically said it after the season and then reiterated that in some comments to Ken Rosenthal,” Davidi said. “I think in terms of the Blue Jays, I’m interested to see where that goes and how that fits there. Max Scherzer, at this point, depending on health, is he a guy you can count on to go wire-to-wire, or will some things crop up? Does that fit with what the Blue Jays are doing?
“As things stand right now, the Blue Jays have five starters in the rotation; they are sort of full there. Does Max want a part-time role, or does he want to wait for an opportunity? I think those are fair questions. There was a lot of appreciation for Max Scherzer, not only for what he did on the field, but what he did in the clubhouse on a number of levels. … Does that mean there will be a reunion? I don’t know at this point. There are some things that need to happen before that ends up taking place.”
The Blue Jays have signed Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce to bolster their pitching staff, which only hurts the chances that Scherzer returns to Toronto. So, it appears the future Hall of Famer’s time with the Blue Jays was one-and-done.
Scherzer is Open to Returning to the Blue Jays
Toronto lost in Game 7 of the World Series, and Scherzer had plenty of success down the stretch and in the postseason.
As the offseason has been on for over a month, Scherzer has yet to sign. But, he appeared on Leafs Morning Take and seemingly hinted at his interest in returning to Toronto.
“Baseball gods got it wrong. We did everything right in a lot of different ways,” Scherzer said on Nov. 26. “So, that notion that there’s some unfinished business, yeah, we know we’re a championship-calibre team, and we want to do that.”
Scherzer said he enjoyed his time with the Blue Jays and is keeping the door open to returning to the team.
“Baseball’s funny. I understand the business of this. The team’s not going to look the exact same — there’s going to be free agent signings and guys traded — it’s just the way the game operates,” Scherzer said. “But from our standpoint, we just want everybody back. We want to get as many guys as we can back because we just know the clubhouse works and we know how well we play together, and it’s such a good thing we had there in ’25 that we want to do it in ’26.”
Scherzer went 5-5 with a 5.19 ERA in 17 starts for the Blue Jays last season. He was 1-0 with a 3.77 ERA in three playoff starts for the team.
Toronto Made Two Big Pitching Signings
The MLB offseason has been underway for nearly a month, but there haven’t been many moves.
Yet, Toronto has made two of the biggest moves this offseason by signing Cease to a seven-year, $210 million deal. Then, on Tuesday, Ponce was signed to a three-year, $30 million deal.
Cease will join the front of the Blue Jays rotation that features Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, and Trey Yesavage. Ponce, meanwhile, projects to be in the rotation, but could also be a swingman type.
Ponce went 17-1 with a 1.89 ERA in 29 starts over 180.2 innings, along with 252 strikeouts in the KBO last season. He was named the KBO League MVP. He also won the Choi Dong-won Award as the league’s top starting pitcher.
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