Remaining Free Agents The Blue Jays Could Add

The Toronto Blue Jays have had a strong offseason as they look to maintain the momentum they built in 2025 heading into the 2026 season. The Blue Jays bulked up their starting rotation with the return of Shane Bieber and the addition of Dylan Cease, added an elite bullpen arm in Tyler Rogers, and signed Kazuma Okamoto to help deepen an already strong position player group. 

By all accounts, this winter has been a win, but the Blue Jays management can still decide to make a late January or early February splash to help propel this roster to a World Series title. The roster is mostly set, but as many fans know, injuries can strike, and having proven Major League talent on the roster is a good problem for manager John Schneider to have.

The Blue Jays’ rotation already consists of the aforementioned Bieber and Cease, along with Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, José Berríos, Cody Ponce, and depth options that include Eric Lauer and Bowden Francis. 

As Blue Jays fans saw in 2025, depth is needed. In 2025, Easton Lucas, Spencer Turnbull, and José Ureña were all required to eat innings. Yesavage is only 22 years old, with limited professional innings to his name; Ponce has struggled at the big league level, and Berríos is coming off an injury to close out last season.

Here is a look at Framber Valdez, Zac Gallen, and Paul Goldschmidt as options for the Blue Jays to bring in before Spring Training opening next month. 

Three Players The Blue Jays Could Add

Framber Valdez

The lifetime Houston Astro has totalled a career 3.36 across eight seasons with the club. In 2025, Valdez posted a 13-11 record with a 3.66 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. Valdez is a World Series champion and two-time All-Star, with a total of 16 playoff starts. 

Valdez would give the Blue Jays another workhorse in the rotation. In the past four years, the left-hander has made 31, 31, 28, and 31 starts, showcasing the ability to take the ball every fifth day. Last season, Valdez tossed 192 innings, the eighth most in MLB, one behind Gausman’s 193. 

Valdez still showcased the ability to miss bats in 2025, striking out 187 batters, the 20th most in MLB. Cease, Gausman, and Valdez would give the Blue Jays a three-headed monster atop the team’s rotation for missing opponents’ bats. 

In the American League East, the ball flies out of the yard, and having a pitcher like Valdez, who only allowed seven home runs all season, can neutralize offenses in the confines of Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, and Oriole Park at Camden Yards. 

A three-to-five-year deal for the 32-year-old pitcher could help keep the Blue Jays’ rotation elite for years to come. 

Zac Gallen

Gallen is another arm who has proven to be durable throughout the right-hander’s seven-year big league career. Across the past four seasons, Gallen has made 31, 34, 28, and 33 starts. Like Valdez, Gallen totalled 192 innings during the 2025 season with the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

In 2025, Gallen posted a record of 13-15 with a 4.83 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. The 30-year-old tied for second in starts made in 2025, giving the Blue Jays another potential option to eat innings for their rotation. 

While Gallen’s numbers took a step back in 2025 compared to previous seasons, especially in allowing the long ball, there is still reason to believe in his complete body of work. Gallen allowed a career high, 31, nine more than the previous high of 22 set back in 2023. 

Gallen’s final seven starts of 2025 give reason to believe that he was starting to return to the pitcher many fans had been accustomed to seeing. In those final seven starts, Gallen went 4-2 with a 3.21 ERA and 1.00 WHIP, including six shutout innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Gallen’s FIP was 4.50, indicating that the pitcher who struck out 175 batters in 2025 was better than the 4.83 ERA indicates if Gallen can return to form, that brings another quality arm to a Blue Jays team in an ever-so-competitive American League. 

Gausman and Bieber are pending free agents after 2026, and Berríos has an opt-out clause, potentially leaving the Blue Jays’ rotation with many questions for 2027. Bringing in Valdez or Gallen would give management and fans confidence that there wouldn’t be a drop-off in the rotation upon completion of the 2026 season. 

Paul Goldschmidt 

The Blue Jays love to have a natural backup first baseman on the roster to help them feel more comfortable giving Vladimir Guerrero Jr. days off or days in the designated hitter spot. Think back to years past, whether it was Daniel Vogelbach, Will Wagner, or Ty France. 

Goldschmidt is a four-time Gold Glove winner, most recently taking home the award in 2021 as a member of the St.Louis Cardinals. The 38-year-old spent the 2025 season with the New York Yankees, slashing .274 with 10 home runs and 45 RBIs and a .328 OBP across 489 at-bats.

Goldschmidt would bring veteran leadership to a clubhouse set to lose Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer this offseason and could help young players like Addison Barger find success. 

Goldschmidt is a career .288 hitter who has slugged 372 home runs across 2074 plate appearances. If Goldschmidt can continue to produce at this level as last season, this could be a valuable bat and mentor inside the Blue Jays’ clubhouse.