Where will the Blue Jays find their next Max Scherzer?

When Scherzer returned from his thumb injury, his second wind was a joy to watch, and he was effective in the postseason for the Blue Jays. But could they bring the 41-year-old back for another season? Often teams have to turn around and go in the market for another arm, depending on whether Scherzer wants to pitch again at all, or if the Blue Jays would rather go in a different direction.

If the Blue Jays want to go the veteran starting pitcher route on a one-year contract, there are plenty of intriguing options in the free agent pool. These are among the more interesting names the Blue Jays should consider filling Scherzer’s role for the 2026 season.

Justin Verlander

If you don’t succeed at first, why don’t you try again? The Blue Jays have been linked to veteran starting pitcher Justin Verlander several times in the past. But now that he’s entering his age-43 season and the Blue Jays are coming off a World Series run, could that be enough to tip the balance in Toronto’s favor?

It was a tale of two very different halves for Verlander, with his first half being a sample size of 15 starts with an ERA of 4.70 compared to a 14-start ERA of 2.99 in the second half. As any fantasy baseball manager can attest, Verlander was a streaming favorite thanks to his late-season resurgence.

At 93.9 MPH, Verlander’s fastball velocity is still in the middle of the pack, and his strikeout rate was 20.7% in 2025 with the Giants after dropping to 18.7% in 2024 with the Mets and Astros.

Verlander missed a month earlier this year with a right pectoral injury, but he still logged 29 starts for the Giants and finished with 152 innings pitched and a 3.85 ERA. Overall, Verlander technically had a better season than Scherzer, but would Verlander be an upgrade over Scherzer?

As crazy as it sounds, I think there is more upside with a 42-year-old Verlander than a 41-year-old Scherzer in the Blue Jays’ starting rotation.

Merrill Kelly

In recent years, Merrill Kelly has flown under the radar as one of the most durable and stable starting pitchers in the MLB. Kelly was a late bloomer, not breaking into the major leagues until age 30 with the Diamondbacks, and Arizona was all he knew until the Dbacks dealt him to the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline.

He continued to perform for his new team, making 10 starts for the Rangers and pitching to a 4.23 ERA. Kelly didn’t blow doors down, but he did eat up innings and maintain a decent strikeout rate. The only red flag was his 0.98 HR/9 shooting with the Diamondbacks, compared to a 1.456 HR/9 with the Rangers.

Even with these warts, any team would be happy to have Kelly at the back of their starting rotation, especially a club like the Blue Jays who have two vacancies on the starting pitching depth chart. Since he’s only 37 years old, I think Kelly is actually getting a multi-year deal, which wouldn’t exactly fit the Scherzer model of a high AAV contract on a one-year deal.

Patrick Korbin

If the Blue Jays hadn’t gone for an impact starter for Shane Bieber at the trade deadline and the Texas Rangers had decided to be sellers instead of buyers, there was a scenario where Patrick Corbin made sense for the Blue Jays as a depth starter.

As his fastball velocity continues to decline, Corbin has to rely on guile as a finesse pitcher to get outs these days, but he’s doing a good job at limiting the damage. At the very least, he doesn’t allow many home runs, and at age 36, his 19.8% strikeout rate in 2025 is the highest he’s posted since 2020 with the Washington Nationals.

If I’m Pete Walker and the Blue Jays’ pitching coaches, someone like Corbin is very intriguing to see if there can be a little tinkering under the hood to unlock even more potential. Since split-finger fastballs are so popular around the league and especially with the Blue Jays, adding a new pitch could potentially make all the difference.

Jose Quintana

Credit to Jose Quintana, he is constantly one of those “he’s still pitching” who continues to reinvent himself and find work year after year. Aside from an injury-shortened season in 2020 and 2023, Quintana was solid for about 30 starts per season, dating back to his debut season in 2012 with the Chicago White Sox.

By comparison, there are no active MLB players who suited up for the Blue Jays in 2012, so Quintana is in pretty exclusive company when it comes to pitchers who have stuck around that long. At age 36, he is also a starting pitcher. I’m happy to fill that Scherzer role as a fifth starter or depth option for the Blue Jays.

Unlike Scherzer, who averaged 5.0 IP per start in 2025, Quintana fared slightly better this season, averaging 5.5 IP per start. Scherzer had a quality start percentage of 35%, while Quintana had a quality start percentage of 33%, even though the Brewers gave Quintana a full run better support than the Blue Jays in Scherzer’s 2025 games.