The Jays have signed Yariel Rodríguez, a Cuban pitcher, to a four-year contract worth $32 million (US).
The Blue Jays made their first foray into the free agent market in 2024, but it wasn’t for the bat they urgently needed
to bolster an offense that underperformed previous season.
The Jays have agreed to a four-year, $32 million (U.S.) contract with Cuban pitcher Yariel Rodríguez, who will be 27
in March.
The right-hander, who didn’t pitch in organized baseball after last spring’s World Baseball Classic in order to
orchestrate his move to North America, is the first addition to a pitching staff that dominated opponents in 2023,
and while he certainly won’t improve the hitting, he could help the team in multiple ways.
Rodríguez was a starting pitcher in Cuba and Japan, where he pitched three seasons for the Chunichi Dragons. In his
final year, he moved to the bullpen and dominated with a 1.15 ERA, allowing only 32 hits and no home runs in 54 2/3
innings of relief, with 60 strikeouts.
He did, however, take the mound in the 2023 World Baseball Classic as a starter, and the Blue Jays are apparently
planning to deploy him in that capacity. However, this does not guarantee that he will be assigned to a rotation that
is now healthy and full, and that finished third in the majors with a 3.68 ERA last season.
The hard-throwing righty isn’t a possibility for the Jays’ rotation because he didn’t pitch last year, with the exception
of two starts at the World Baseball Classic in which he threw only 7 1/3 innings, bringing his total over the past two
years to 62.
The man needs to be stretched out, which could mean starting the season with the Jays’ top development club in
Buffalo.
He’ll most likely be down there in April, working on his arm so that he may join the rotation by the middle of May or
so if an injury arises or if Alek Manoah’s return does not go as planned.
