The Toronto Blue Jays are trying to re-sign reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray in free agency, but they just were able to acquire the services of another Cy Young candidate by nabbing former San Francisco Giants pitcher Kevin Gausman on a five-year, $110 million deal, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.
There had been some signs earlier Sunday that the Giants were in decent position to bring back Gausman, but the Blue Jays ultimately won these sweepstakes. Gausman finished sixth in NL Cy Young voting this past season as a member of the Giants after posting a 2.81 ERA and striking out 227 batters in 192.0 innings of work. The 30-year-old posted a 14-6 record and made his first All-Star Game in a career season.
Toronto just recently lost Steven Matz to the St. Louis Cardinals, so the club was looking to replace him in the rotation. The Blue Jays also just signed Jose Berrios to a long extension, but it would be great to keep around Ray after his career season won him his first Cy Young Award. Toronto will have a potent lineup once again even after losing Marcus Semien to the Texas Rangers, so the pitching staff needs to be in order to make a legitimate World Series push.
There's plenty of competition for Ray's services, so the Blue Jays could still lose out on him. But even with Gausman in the fold, they should do everything they can to try to lock in the lefty on a new long-term deal.
Stay tuned.
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