Blue Jays Tarik Skubal free agency, Digi Mart USA News: Last week’s photos of Bowden Francis and Tarik Skubal training together added a little intrigue to a possibility that must at least be considered given the Blue Jays’ recent history.
Could the Blue Jays pursue Skubal, the top free agent available? As seen repeatedly in recent years, the Blue Jays have shown interest in top free agents, sometimes pushing hard for them.
They made serious offers for Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker and Dylan Cease, showed real interest in Juan Soto and Corbin Burnes, and hovered around the edges for Max Fried, Alex Bregman and Cody Bellinger.
At minimum, the Blue Jays will keep watch on Skubal. The question is how far beyond that their conversations go.
While that answer may take a few more weeks to emerge, it is useful to review what is known about MLB’s top free agent and a Blue Jays team looking to rebound from a last-place season.
Skubal fits every team. The Blue Jays’ rotation is not necessarily their biggest need on paper, but Skubal offers the greatest potential impact.
He would be a strong addition. Of course, the same can be said for 29 other teams.
While president and CEO Mark Shapiro declined to offer specifics when he spoke to the media following the 2026 season, he said, “I don’t anticipate there being any major fundamental change” to payroll. “My expectation is we’ll be in a similar area of support and resources,” he added.
That does not mean the Blue Jays will spend heavily this winter, but it indicates they can consider prominent free agents even with uncertainty over the upcoming collective bargaining agreement.
There are some connections. Skubal is clearly friendly with Francis, as evidenced by recent Instagram posts of the two training together in Arizona.
As a player who has spent every spring training of his career with the Tigers, Skubal is also familiar with the Dunedin, Florida, area where the Blue Jays train.
The Blue Jays permitted the left-hander to lift at their gym following a Grapefruit League start this March, so he is more familiar than most with their recently renovated facilities. After that spring start, Skubal met Max Scherzer for the first time and talked pitching.
Both pitchers are represented by agent Scott Boras, who also represents Cease and Kazuma Okamoto, among many others.
Skubal is not expected to make a decision of this magnitude because he lifted weights in the Blue Jays’ gym once or because he enjoys Francis’s company. Such connections help, but veteran players have friends all over the league.
What can be concluded is that he is familiar with the Blue Jays’ training facilities in both Toronto and Florida.
Teams and major agencies often open the winter with meetings at which the sides convey broad goals before getting into specifics. Last year, initial meetings with Boras touched on Cease and Okamoto as well as Bellinger and Bregman.
With Cease, the Blue Jays were motivated to move quickly. For others, like Max Scherzer, they were prepared to wait.
This year, initial meetings with Boras will include discussion of his many clients, including Randy Arozarena and Kaima Taira, two other potential Blue Jays targets. The Blue Jays are interested in Arozarena, Taira and Skubal, and that interest is expected.
The Blue Jays often set up direct meetings with select free agents as the off-season unfolds. A meeting with Skubal may happen before an expected lockout, which would signal some mutual interest.
But a meeting only means so much. The Blue Jays met in person with Tucker and Framber Valdez last winter but did not sign either.
Boras has a reputation for seeking the biggest possible deal, though he points to examples where clients have taken less money to prioritize a specific city or team. He is also something of a showman, embracing the spotlight with pun-filled press conferences.
Leaks are hard to avoid with most free agents. A report in mid-November that the Blue Jays are “highly motivated” on Skubal would not be surprising.
The question is what that means: motivated enough to meet, to offer a contract, or to be the high bidder on a record-setting deal, or simply engaged in case conversations with the Mets and Dodgers fall through. Those distinctions matter.
The expiration of the sport’s collective bargaining agreement gives agents a deadline, and a deadline brings leverage. Ahead of MLB’s last lockout, Boras used that pressure to help land mega-contracts for players including Corey Seager and Marcus Semien.
It is possible, and some believe likely, that he will take the same approach with Skubal and others this time.
Any conversations between the Blue Jays and Skubal are expected to be friendly this November, and both sides have much to gain. In the end, a pitcher who has a chance to set free-agent records will likely be swayed by dollars and what those dollars represent, including respect for his skill set and a commitment to winning.
The Blue Jays can be expected to participate to a degree, but their interest may stem from open-mindedness more than a land-the-player-at-all-costs approach. Many believe the Mets are most likely to outbid the rest of the field and land the winter’s biggest star.
