There is a free-agent starter who had a better WHIP this year than Dylan Cease, a better K/9 than Freddy Peralta, and a better HR/9 than Tarik Skubal.

He wouldn't cost the Blue Jays anywhere near what Skubal will command, and will be far cheaper than Peralta.

He was a first-round pick, a former Top 25 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, and a Rookie of the Year runner-up. He has a Top 10 Cy Young finish and has been an All-Star.

And, oh yeah, he was born and raised in Alberta, Canada.

Michael Soroka, however, quietly had the second-best season of his career in 2026. He is still only 29, and at least based on last season's results, he would have been Toronto's No. 2 starter.

Of course, there's a catch, and it's why he will likely command only a short-term deal at a comparatively modest price. He pitched 116 innings in 2026, his second-highest total. He earned the ROY runner-up nod, a 6th-place Cy Young finish, and an All-Star nomination in his rookie year of 2019.

Between 2020 and 2023, he threw 46 innings. Combined.

He followed that up with 79.2 innings, a 4.474 ERA, and a 0-10 record for the 121-loss White Sox in 2024. It was the most losses by a winless pitcher since 1982.

If you knew Terry Felton went 0-13 for the Minnesota Twins in 1982, it might be time to re-evaluate your life.

Actually, you probably should.

In 2025, Soroka pitched 89.2 innings for the Nationals and Cubs before signing with the Diamondbacks in December.

The table below shows stats for the top free-agent starters available this offseason. Soroka will certainly command more than the 1-year, $7.5M deal he signed with Arizona last offseason, but he'll likely cost less than many of the players below.

Soroka threw fewer innings than the other top starters, but that may matter less if a lockout shortens the 2027 season.

The value of innings-eaters might decline, with quality mattering more than quantity.

In 2015, Soroka pitched for the Canadian Junior National Team in a spring-training game against a Blue Jays split squad.

Soroka pitched a scoreless first inning, then induced a double play that would have ended the inning with just one run allowed. His teammate booted it, and after several errors, Soroka allowed seven runs, only one earned.

After the game, Alex Anthopoulos and several other members of the Blue Jays front office called Soroka into their booth and effectively asked him whether he would sign if the Blue Jays drafted him. On Soroka's way out, Anthopoulos joked that if he signed, they would put a better defense behind him than the one that had just led to the Jays putting a seven-spot on the board.

They never got the chance to draft him.

Toronto picked 29th. The Braves sniped him at pick 28.

Soroka has expressed interest in staying with the Diamondbacks, as he now spends his offseason in Scottsdale. However, he pitched for Team Canada in the WBC and took the loss in their quarterfinal game against the United States.

In his Diamondback debut on March 30, 2026 he struck out 10 over five scoreless innings, including the fourth Immaculate Inning in Diamondbacks history

In mid-April, he pitched at Chase Field against the Blue Jays, allowing just two runs over seven innings, with five strikeouts and no walks.

After making his MLB debut at age 20 and becoming the Braves' youngest-ever Opening Day Starter in 2020 (albeit the COVID season), Soroka tore his Achilles in August of 2020 and then tore it again in June of 2021. He did not pitch at all in either 2021 or 2022.

Soroka's Slurve is His Best Pitch

Soroka throws roughly one-third fastballs, one-third slurves, and the other third a combination of changeup, cutter, and sweeper.

Opposing batters hit just .178 and slugged .226 against his slurve.

The Blue Jays can pencil Cease, Soriano, and Yesavage into their rotation. They can scribble everyone else in with a broken crayon.

Soroka is unlikely to repeat his sixth-place Cy Young finish from his rookie year. He posted a career-low 35.6% ground-ball rate, so you would expect his home run rate to rise. He is also an injury risk, as he missed six weeks from mid-June to early August with a glute strain and some additional time with arm inflammation.

Most of his injuries, though, have been to his lower body, and having fewer miles on his arm could help.

He is likely to be an above-average starter and enters the winter with the stated goal of making 32 starts in 2027.

Toronto would be well served to sign him to deepen its rotation. He signed a 1-year deal with Arizona for $7.5M in 2025. He is unlikely to get a qualifying offer, so he would not cost a draft pick.

With four Gold Glove candidates behind him, the Blue Jays could even keep their eleven-year-old promise to put a better defense behind him.