Blue Jays insider hints at a new way Toronto could torment the Yankees

Remember the days when it seemed like the Toronto Blue Jays lost out on all of the top free agents? Shohei Ohtani rejected their advances. Juan Soto spurned them. Roki Sasaki led them on. The Blue Jays finally broke through the ice this winter and became a premier free agent destination; however, in the last couple of weeks, the New York Yankees have been able to laugh as top-end talent like Kyle Tucker and their own homegrown Bo Bichette chose other landing spots.

Of course, the Yankees should be laughing at no one. At least Toronto has been aggressive and added multiple high-level names to improve upon a roster that was a hair away from winning the World Series. New York's focus has been on making marginal moves at the bottom of the roster.

As the Yankees await Cody Bellinger's decision, it does not appear that the Blue Jays are entering the fray for the star outfielder. Their interest in Kyle Tucker seemed to be more about the player than a true need.

With a sudden surplus of cash, could Toronto turn its attention elsewhere? Framber Valdez is the top remaining free agent, and despite the additions of Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce, he'd fill a sneaky need in the Blue Jays' rotation.

Blue Jays' insider hints at a possible Framber Valdez connection that could further separate Toronto from the Yankees

Blue Jays insider Ben Nicholson-Smith reported in the aftermath of Bo Bichette's decision that the Blue Jays had met with Valdez all the way back at the general manager meetings in November. The meeting occurred before Toronto came to terms with Cease on a massive seven-year, $210 million deal, but Nicholson-Smith noted that there was mutual interest between the Jays and Valdez at the time of the meeting.

It's unclear whether or not the two sides have remained in contact since then. The hottest rumors surrounding Valdez seem to lie with the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets at this juncture. However, just like Ranger Suarez to the Red Sox, we could always see a team come out of nowhere to land a prize like the former Houston Astros southpaw.

Toronto's rotation might seem set, but there are some things to consider. Right now, they have six possible starters: Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage, Jose Berrios, and Cody Ponce. One thing they all have in common is that they're right-handed. It's hard to imagine a team with World Series aspirations forgoing the chance to add a high-end lefty to the mix when that element is completely absent.

Not to mention, there are concerns with many of those arms. Bieber has struggled to stay healthy, Cease's results have been extremely volatile despite great underlying metrics, and Yesavage looked otherworldly but has just 41 2/3 big league innings under his belt, including the postseason.

Ponce is returning stateside after a year in the KBO in which he won the MVP, but he wound up there because he flamed out massively with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a youngster. He's the definition of a wild card. Kevin Gausman has been a consistent top-of-the-rotation presence, but has a lot of mileage on his 35-year-old right arm and will be entering his 14th major league season. Berrios could potentially be trade bait, especially after all of the drama stemming from last year's postseason.

Meanwhile, Valdez is one of the most consistent forces one can find. Over the last four seasons, only Logan Webb has pitched more innings. The 32-year-old lefty is a groundball machine and sports a career 3.36 ERA.

It might be a long shot, but Valdez does make sense for Toronto, even if it would take some housekeeping to truly make the pieces fit. If they were able to strike a deal, it would be the dagger that guarantees they'll be in a different stratosphere from the Yankees.

Both New York and Toronto finished the regular season with 94 wins last year. Since then, the arrows have been moving in opposite directions for both clubs. One more big splash like Valdez, and it will be hard to see how the Yankees can compete.