Blue Jays Sign Jaime Garcia

Jaime Garcia: 5-10, 4.41 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 129/64 K/BB, 157 innings

One year, $8 million

The Blue Jays made a fairly similar signing to the Orioles' Andrew Cashner deal by bringing in veteran lefty Jaime Garcia. While the Blue Jays' rotation isn't nearly as atrocious as their AL East rival's, the team did lack a dependable fifth starter behind Marcus Stroman, J.A. Happ, Aaron Sanchez, and Marco Estrada. Like Cashner, Garcia has been dominant at times; in 2010, he was 13-8 with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP over 28 starts, and in 2015, he was 10-6 with a 2.43 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP over 20 starts. He has also been down; since 2016, Garcia is 15-23 with a 4.55 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP over 59 games (57 starts). He's unlikely to climb back to the heights he reached in 2016 and 2017, but he should be a valuable fifth starter at the very least (as long as he stays healthy), and could be a mid-rotation force if all goes well. For his career, the lefty out of the Rio Grande Valley is 67-55 with a 3.69 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP over 185 games (174 starts). Interestingly, after spending 2008-2016 all with the Cardinals, the Blue Jays will be his fourth team in two seasons (he pitched for the Braves, Twins, and Yankees in 2017).