Earlier today, we wrote about how the Blue Jays still need help on the mound. The name of Cody Ponce had even been raised.
And there it is: the starting pitcher signed a three-year contract valued at $30 million in total.
Ponce left MLB a few years ago (2021 was his last year) to go to Asia. And in 2025, he was the MVP of the Korean league, maintaining a 17-1 record and a 1.89 ERA.
He also struck out 252 players in 180.2 innings of work thanks to his revised and corrected velocity over the years. We sense a trend among the Blue Jays, don't we? #K
With Dylan Cease, that makes two starting pitchers coming to town. Will Ponce be used as a starter? As a reliever? History doesn't say it.
But there are still two pitchers who will seek outs on mass strikes.
This means that Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt were replaced by Cease and Ponce. They join Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber, Jose Berrios, Eric Lauer, Bowden Francis, Adam Macko, Jake Bloss and company in the hierarchy of potential starting pitchers for the club.
Who will be in the rotation? We'll see in due time… but Gausman, Cease, Yesavage and Bieber should be there.
We must, more than ever, wonder if the rumors involving Jose Berrios will lead to anything. It wouldn't necessarily be surprising to see it launch elsewhere in 2026, even if its market value should not be incredible as we speak.
Long term, Ponce, Yesavage and Cease will be in Toronto for at least three years. It gives a little more certainty to the managers, who must realize that it is easier to attract guys to town when the club has won matches en masse in recent months.
