It’s believed that the Blue Jays are “optimistic” about signing Cuban pitching prospect
According to Rosenthal’s story on Tuesday, immigration concerns have kept the agreement from becoming formal. It’s unclear what those problems are specifically and when they should be fixed.
In his native Cuba, Rodríguez began his professional career at the age of 27 in March. At the age of just eighteen, he began pitching in the Cuban National Series during the 2015–16 season. In the end, he appeared in 91 games for that league, starting 72 of them, and finished with a 3.30 earned run average over 464 1/3 innings pitched.
For the 2020 season, he signed with the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, however he was only used as a reliever by that team. His 175 1/3 innings pitched over three NPB seasons came with a 3.03 ERA. He walked 10.4% and struck out 25.4% of the hitters he faced. He appeared to find a new gear in 2022 as seen by his 1.15 ERA in 54 2/3 innings, when he struck out 27.5% of opponents while only walking 8.3%.
After participating in the 2023 World Baseball Classic for Cuba, he left Japan without going back. Even though he managed to get released from the Dragons and became a free agent, he was unable to throw in official games following the World Baseball Classic in 2018.
This summer, he has drawn a lot of interest, and some teams believe he can go back to being a starter. MLBTR projected at the beginning of the offseason that he would sign a $32 million, four-year contract. That puts him approximately in the same park as a few other pitchers who may be making the switch from the bullpen to the rotation.Jordan Hicks received a $44 million four-year contract with the Giants, while Reynaldo Lopez inked a three-year, $30 million deal with Atlanta. Although they have both been successful relievers in the past, those two pitchers will attempt to earn more playing time as starts this spring.
Rodríguez’s appeal would probably be comparable. The team that contracts him would benefit if he proves to be a reliable starter; in the event that he falters, a relief position would be a respectable backup plan. After missing the 2023 season, Rodríguez may be a bit of a long-term project as a starter, thus it would be difficult to suddenly increase his workload to that of a full-time starter.
Four-fifths of the Jays’ rotation for this season have already been secured; Yusei Kikuchi, Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman, and José Berríos are all returning from the team that finished last season. Since Hyun Jin Ryu is currently a free agent, the fifth place is more vacant.
As recently as 2022, Alek Manoah was considered for the Cy Young award; however, it is uncertain how much confidence the club still has in him. He struggled in the 2023 season and was twice optioned to the minor leagues, which appeared to damage his connection with the team.
Although he is currently the front-runner for the last rotation spot, there have been a lot of trade speculations involving him this summer. Due to injuries, prospect Ricky Tiedemann was only able to play in 44 innings throughout the season, with an additional 18 in the Arizona Fall League. Tiedemann reached Triple-A last year and may be close to making his major league debut.Bowden Francis and Mitch White may also be considered, although neither player has a significant big league history.
Rodriguez could be able to contribute to that competition and get some playing time in 2024. The Jays will need to cover the innings in the rotation going forward as Kikuchi, Bassitt, and Gausman are all expected to become free agents following the 2019 season, 2025, and 2026, respectively.
Long-term uncertainty also exists in the bullpen because Trevor Richards and Yimi García are set to become free agents after 2024. In the meanwhile, after 2025, Jordan Romano, Erik Swanson, Chad Green, Tim Mayza, and Genenesis Cabrera will be available for purchase.
In terms of finalized trades, the Jays’ offseason has been quite quiet thus far. Although they have ties to well-known players like Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, their two most noteworthy signings to date have been the utility player Isaac Kiner-Falefa and the outfielder Kevin Kiermaier.With a competitive balance tax number of $231 million, Roster Resource believes that the club’s payroll is $221 million, somewhat more than it was $215 million the previous year.
The club’s president and CEO, Mark Shapiro, had previously said that this year’s payroll will probably be comparable to last year’s. They would need to push payroll a little bit farther than it already is in order to sign Rodríguez and/or other bats to improve the lineup, which would also push them over the $237 million base barrier of the CBT. The Jays’ basic tax rate would increase from 20% to 30% as a second-time payer after they filed their taxes for the first time last year.