Blue Jays reportedly attempting to reunite with 3-time Cy Young winner, 8-time All-Star originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Toronto Blue Jays were active early in free agency, but things stalled as they pursued Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette. The two were the top names on their board during free agency, and while the Blue Jays were not expected to get both, they still could have landed one.

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“It takes them out of doing both Tucker and Bichette, but it doesn’t take them out of doing one or the other,” Bowden said on Foul Territory.

Toronto could have easily re-signed Bichette, but he felt the relationship was strained after some developments in the winter. The Blue Jays allowed Tucker to explore physicals and other details with the team, but that wasn’t enough to bring him to Toronto. Instead, he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“Kyle Tucker, the consensus best player available in free agency, agreed to join the Dodgers on Thursday, sources told ESPN, a little more than a month after star closer Edwin Diaz did the same. Tucker’s deal is for four years at $240 million and includes opt-outs after the second and third seasons, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers,” ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez wrote.

Now, Toronto’s focus is primarily on adding pitching. The Blue Jays have been in contact with Max Scherzer to strengthen the rotation.

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“The Blue Jays have maintained some interest in Max Scherzer throughout the winter, and talks between the two sides have become more serious over the past week, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. There’s no deal in place, and there are still other clubs hoping to sign the future Hall of Famer, but Toronto has apparently hastened its efforts to get the three-time Cy Young winner back to the Rogers Centre,” MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams wrote.

The Blue Jays are set to be a tough team in the AL East, but their lineup doesn’t appear as powerful on paper. That means the pitching staff will need to carry much of the load in 2026.

Adding a player like Scherzer would provide exactly that, along with a strong voice in the clubhouse. Scherzer knows he is approaching the end of his career, so there is no doubt he will give any organization everything he has left.

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