{"id":327505,"date":"2025-12-05T18:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T18:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/327505\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T18:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T18:03:08","slug":"breaking-down-blue-jays-top-relief-pitcher-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/327505\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking down Blue Jays’ top relief-pitcher targets"},"content":{"rendered":"

A pursuit of the consensus top free agent on the market is going to draw plenty of headlines and attention, but the next move the Blue Jays make could easily be in the bullpen.<\/p>\n

Even if Tucker, Bo Bichette or another significant lineup upgrade is the place where Toronto can make the biggest impact, the position-player market has been glacial in recent weeks, with Josh Naylor earning the only multi-year contract.<\/p>\n

Relievers, on the other hand, are coming off the board quickly. Five bullpen arms have already received eight-figure contracts, headlined by Devin Williams’ $51-million deal signed earlier this week.<\/p>\n

If the Blue Jays want a proven, high-leverage arm, they are running short on options \u2014 but there are still a few relievers remaining who could help them in the late innings:<\/p>\n

The Biggest Fish: Edwin D\u00edaz<\/p>\n

2025 team:\u00a0New York Mets<\/p>\n

2025 stats:\u00a09.00 K\/9, 2.43 BB\/9 and 0.61 HR in 74 IP with a 2.31 ERA, 2.96 xERA and 3.07 FIP for 1.4 fWAR<\/p>\n

Projected contract (average of MLBTR + FanGraphs Crowdsource estimates):\u00a04 years, $83 million<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019s worth a look:\u00a0In the past four seasons, D\u00edaz has posted an ERA below 1.75 twice and fWAR over two twice. He brings the total value of a starter while delivering in a game\u2019s biggest moments. Since 2021, his Win Probability Added (8.40) ranks 21st among all pitchers of any type ahead of guys such as Blake Snell (8.00), Chris Sale (8.00) and Kevin Gausman (7.81).<\/p>\n

That\u2019s far from a perfect statistic, but it gives some conceptual framing for why he may get paid like a solid starting pitcher. If D\u00edaz isn\u2019t the best reliever in the game, he\u2019s close to it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, the question of signing the star closer isn\u2019t about his skill level, it\u2019s a philosophical one about the value of a reliever. The Blue Jays\u2019 pursuit of Jeff Hoffman last off-season showed a newfound open-mindedness about big-money bullpen arms, but D\u00edaz is a different proposition.<\/p>\n

Making the case that D\u00edaz is worth what he\u2019ll cost is one hurdle, but it\u2019s also difficult to grapple with the opportunity cost associated with paying $20 million-plus to a reliever who could go to a player in a larger role. If the Blue Jays \u2014 who have been loosely linked to D\u00edaz \u2014 go get him, it will be an indication that they are willing to throw caution to the wind like never before.<\/p>\n

The Rumoured Target: Pete Fairbanks<\/p>\n

2025 team:\u00a0Tampa Bay Rays<\/p>\n

2025 stats:\u00a08.80 K\/9, 2.69 BB\/9 and 1.04 HR in 60.1 IP with a 2.83 ERA, 3.04 xERA and 3.63 FIP for 1.0 fWAR<\/p>\n

Projected contract (average of MLBTR + FanGraphs estimates):\u00a02 years, $17 million<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019s worth a look:\u00a0Performance volatility is unavoidable with relievers, but Fairbanks has managed to avoid an off year since a rough first taste of the major leagues in 2019. Since then, his ERA has been 3.59 or better every season, and he\u2019s produced at least one fWAR in four of the last five years.<\/p>\n

That consistency is appealing, as is his average velocity of 97.3 m.p.h. His fastball-slider combo works slightly better against right-handers, but his career platoon splits are fairly neutral, and he has extensive experience as a closer, meaning there are very few late-game situations he\u2019d be uncomfortable in.<\/p>\n

Despite all of the positives, there are a few red flags with Fairbanks. He has an unusual injury history that\u2019s seen him consistently deal with one thing or another, like a\u00a0hip injury<\/a>\u00a0in 2023,\u00a0and a\u00a0nerve issue<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0back injury<\/a>\u00a0in 2024. Until 2025, Fairbanks had never pitched 50 innings in a season at the major-league level.<\/p>\n

The right-hander\u2019s velocity, while excellent, has also come down about 2 m.p.h. since 2023, with strikeouts falling along the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Fairbanks is a\u00a0logical target free target\u00a0<\/a>because of his consistent success in late-inning roles, but there are legitimate concerns that keep him out of sure-bet territory.<\/p>\n

The Sleeper: Shawn Armstrong<\/p>\n

2025 team:\u00a0Texas Rangers<\/p>\n

2025 stats:\u00a09.00 K\/9, 2.43 BB\/9 and 0.61 HR in 74 IP with a 2.31 ERA, 2.96 xERA and 3.07 FIP for 1.4 fWAR<\/p>\n

Projected contract (average of MLBTR + FanGraphs estimates):\u00a01 year, $4.5 million\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019s worth a look:\u00a0Armstrong isn\u2019t the best-known reliever available, but he\u2019s been one of the most effective lately. The right-hander is coming off a stellar season, and even though his 2024 was bumpy (4.86 ERA), he was outstanding in 2023 with a 1.35 ERA, putting him safely outside the one-hit-wonder category.<\/p>\n

The veteran doesn\u2019t throw particularly hard (93-94 m.p.h.), but uses three different fastballs and has a tight sweeper with limited downward movement that runs away from right-handed hitters.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Getting righties out has been his calling card his entire career. They\u2019ve hit just .224\/.288\/.352 against him all-time with a putrid .113\/.185\/.144 last season in 178 trips to the plate. That could intrigue a Blue Jays team needing someone to handle critical right-handed matchups now that Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez<\/a> is a free agent.<\/p>\n

If Toronto signed Armstrong, the excitement would probably be muted, but only 13 relievers have topped the 3.4 fWAR he\u2019s produced since the beginning of the 2023 season. While he\u2019s shown an initial interest in returning to the Texas Rangers<\/a>, that\u2019s no guarantee that he\u2019s not open to other options.<\/p>\n

The Reunion: Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez<\/p>\n

2025 teams:\u00a0Baltimore Orioles\/Toronto Blue Jays<\/p>\n

2025 stats:\u00a011.35 K\/9, 5.17 BB\/9 and 0.72 HR in 62.2 IP with a 3.16 ERA, 3.23 xERA and 3.47 FIP for 0.9 fWAR<\/p>\n

Projected contract (average of MLBTR + FanGraphs estimates):\u00a0\u00a02 years, $17 million<\/p>\n

Why he\u2019s worth a look:\u00a0Dom\u00ednguez struggled through the Blue Jays’ playoff run, walking more hitters (11) than he struck out (10) in 11.1 innings, but that doesn\u2019t mean a return to Toronto is out of the question.<\/p>\n

For starters, the right-hander\u2019s previous work in the post-season with the Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles was rock-solid, so there\u2019s no real worry that he can\u2019t deliver in big moments. His career playoff ERA is 1.86 in 29 appearances.<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays also liked him enough to acquire him midway through 2025, and he largely delivered on expectations by missing plenty of bats, walking too many hitters and keeping runs off the board at a solid clip. His struggles to harness his stuff and silence lefty opponents are well-documented, but he\u2019s so dynamic against righties that he\u2019s still a weapon when deployed with some caution.<\/p>\n

Bringing Dom\u00ednguez back wouldn\u2019t feel like a massive upgrade to a bullpen that faltered in the playoffs, but if Yimi Garcia is healthy and Louie Varland settles in, Dom\u00ednguez could thrive as a matchup fireman as opposed to a go-to eighth-inning option.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unlike Fairbanks, there\u2019s no sign that his velocity is slowing down, and he might even have some upside if the splitter and curveball he debuted in 2025 take a step forward next season.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A pursuit of the consensus top free agent on the market is going to draw plenty of headlines…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-327505","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}