Rumor: Blue Jays Interested in Signing 2 LHP

The Toronto Blue Jays continue to have dialogue with the representatives for Robbie Ray, Steven Matz, and Marcus Semien, however each day that passes increases their chances of going elsewhere. It may force the ball club to turn their attention to others.

Two left-handed pitchers of interest are Canadian James Paxton and Danny Duffy. Veterans who have shown in the past they are capable of eating innings and missing bats. One insider was asked why Duffy was an under the radar type of signing and had this to say:

I'll go with Danny Duffy: He misses bats and still hasn't pitched in a big league game for anyone but the Royals, so he may be open to some tweaks from fresh perspectives. Plus, even if he isn't working in the rotation, I've always thought Duffy will have a lot of end-of-career value as a high-leverage and long reliever. He was really good last season before he got hurt.

The likelihood of Ray and Matz both leaving has certainly creeped into the heads of Blue Jays management and Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro are considering not only signing a couple of veterans but also facilitating some trades. Alejandro Kirk is a name that has been mentioned multiple times in trades recently along with outfielder Randal Grichuk.

As for Paxton, he's always pitched well in Toronto and it's always seemed like he would eventual 'go home' to the Blue Jays. He's coming off Tommy John Surgery so wouldn't cost as much to sign but the down side is he likely wouldn't be back on an MLB mound until later in 2022. Paxton's last full season came in 2019 with the New York Yankees, where the southpaw pitched to a 15-6 record with 186 strikeouts in 150 innings.

The Blue Jays are going to be busy this offseason and it's likely they make a couple of moves before the roster freeze in December. Get used to the names Danny Duffy and James Paxton Blue Jays fans. You could be seeing lots more of them next summer and hopefully into late fall.