This has been an offseason of misses for the Toronto Blue Jays. They aggressively pursued Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but all three wound up elsewhere. Toronto then pivoted to second- and third-tier free agents like Kevin Kiermaier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who raise the team’s floor but don’t raise the ceiling all that much, if at all.
On Wednesday, the Blue Jays finally connected with one of their big swings, and landed Cuban right-hander Yariel Rodriguez. The signing is not official yet and the financial terms are unconfirmed, but it’ll be official soon enough and we’ll get the contract details before long. Once the deal is done, Rodriguez will join a pitching staff that ranked second in baseball with a 113 ERA+ in 2023.
Rodriguez has a bit of an interesting backstory. He was a top setup man with the Chunichi Dragons in Japan for several years and he served as Cuba’s No. 1 starter in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Rodriguez wanted to jump to MLB after the WBC but Chunichi would not let him out of his contract, so he sat out the season. The Dragons released Rodriguez early this offseason.
Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball is in the middle of something of a dead ball era, though even compared to the pitcher-friendly league averages, Rodriguez was very good from 2021-22. He missed bats in a league that prioritizes contact and he kept the ball in the park. Yeah, he walked more than you’d like, but Rodriguez cut his walk rate from 12.1% in 2021 to 8.3% in 2022.
Sitting out the entire 2023 season is not ideal — Rodriguez didn’t spend the year on his couch, he trained and held showcases for scouts leading up to his free agency — but it’s easier to come back from a long layoff as a pitcher than as a hitter. The year away also gave Rodriguez time to heal up and get over any wear and tear (every pitcher could benefit from time off, physically).
Not much is known about how the Blue Jays will deploy Rodriguez or about Rodriguez in general. Here’s what you need to know about Toronto’s new right-hander and how they may use him, and how he fits their roster.
He’s only 26
This is a pretty big deal. Rodriguez is 26 now and he’ll turn 27 in March. He is much younger than most MLB free agents and that, in theory, means he has more peak years ahead of him. That’s what made Yamamoto so appealing. In addition to being so talented, Yamamoto is only 25. He has so many of what should be his best years ahead of him. That doesn’t apply to most free agents.
It does apply to Rodriguez though. The reported contact terms — four years and $32 million per MLB.com’s Francys Romero — lock up Rodriguez for his age 27-30 seasons. The Blue Jays are buying peak production years, and the contract is short enough that Rodriguez can re-enter free agency at age 30, when he should still be able to secure nice payday.
