🔥 HOT NEWS: A small, overlooked trade has just revealed the Blue Jays’ true strategy ⚡ .MH

The Toronto Blue Jays are facing a paradox rarely seen in modern MLB: they have too many good pitchers—to the point that it’s starting to become a problem.

According to MLB.com insider Keegan Matheson, the Blue Jays’ current pitching picture is like a “musical chairs” game that’s been going on for too long. There are only five chairs, but more people. And “sooner or later,” as Matheson writes, “something will have to make way.”

At the MLB level, coach John Schneider is in a difficult position. Six starters for a five-person rotation. No one wants to go down to the bullpen. No one wants to be left out. And among them, the name that’s starting to be mentioned most often—though no one says it out loud—is José Berríos.

Berríos isn’t a bad pitcher. He’s a 31-year-old veteran, with over a decade of experience, and was once a mainstay of the staff. But that very fact makes him the most awkward “obstacle”: a large contract, a fixed role, and less flexibility than the rest of the arm.

It’s noteworthy that the Blue Jays aren’t in a hurry to do anything.

Matheson emphasizes that Toronto isn’t interested in dumping salaries by attaching prospects to trades—a path many teams choose when their roster is congested. Instead, they’re choosing to… wait. At least until February is over.

The situation becomes even stranger when you remember what the Blue Jays have lost. Max Scherzer—a future Hall of Famer—left. Chris Bassitt—an innings machine—also left Toronto. In return, they made a big bet on Dylan Cease with a 7-year, $210 million contract. A clear statement: we want to win now.

But that didn’t stop them from continuing to… gather pitching.

While MLB rotations are already full, Toronto quietly made a new pitching move this week. No press conference. No big announcement. Just a dry confirmation on the club’s official trading board.

An unusual pitcher. So cheap it’s almost negligible. And almost nobody noticed.

At first glance, this deal doesn’t solve the current logjam problem. It doesn’t affect the 2026 rotation. It doesn’t push anyone out of the bullpen. But it reveals a lot about how the Blue Jays are thinking beyond the present.

In a context where flexibility is increasingly important, Toronto is prioritizing stockpiling low-cost, unusual arms—pitchers who, if developed correctly, could become valuable assets in the future. This isn’t a stopgap strategy. This is building a reserve.

The problem is: you can’t keep stockpiling without disrupting the existing structure.

Six starters, five spots. A bullpen is already crowded. And a front office doesn’t want to sacrifice prospect or receive little value in return. That creates simmering pressure—not explosive immediately, but inevitable clashes when Spring Training begins.

The big question is no longer who is better than whom. Rather:
How far will the Blue Jays go to protect their long-term value before accepting a difficult decision in the present?

Because “wait and see in February” is just delaying. When the music stops, there will always be someone… without a seat.