Blue Jays Predicted to Land Relief Pitcher From Cardinals Before Opening Day

Will the Toronto Blue Jays look to upgrade their bullpen before the start of the regular season?

Apr 21, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A St. Louis Cardinals hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

With pitchers and catchers starting to report, the regular season is right around the corner for the Toronto Blue Jays. However, despite a busy offseason, it might make sense for the Blue Jays to try to add some more help. 

Toronto came into the winter as one of the most aggressive teams with an interest in most of the major free agents. While they didn’t land all of the players that they were pursuing, they did land some big names like Dylan Cease. 

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With recent interest in Framber Valdez, the Blue Jays are still apparently looking to make upgrades before the start of the season. After seeing the Los Angeles Dodgers improve, and the goal being to dethrone them, the aggressiveness by Toronto to improve has been impressive. 

While another slugger would make sense, options are limited there now. However, they could look to improve another area of the team in the trade market that could make a lot of sense. 

Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report recently predicted that the Blue Jays would look to strengthen their bullpen by acquiring left-hander JoJo Romero from the St. Louis Cardinals before the start of the season. 

Romero Could Help Solve Bullpen Need

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher JoJo Romero | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

When it comes to October baseball, the game certainly changes a bit. While Toronto has focused this winter on improving its starting rotation, they also added a very talented relief pitcher in Tyler Rogers. The veteran was one of the best high-leverage options available, and he will undoubtedly help bridge the gap to Jeff Hoffman in the closer spot. 

Pursuing a southpaw like Romero to help provide some more depth in the bullpen makes a lot of sense for the Blue Jays, who are clearly all-in on trying to win this year. With the Cardinals last year, he totaled a 4-6 record and 2.07 ERA. That type of production, coupled with some of the other talent in the bullpen, could really improve this unit, and it would make a lot of sense for Toronto. 

Having Romero would help the Blue Jays combat top left-handed hitters in the playoffs and let them match up a bit better.

Even though Hoffman might be a bit of a concern in the closer spot after some inconsistencies in 2025, surrounding him with talent could help a lot. Overall, if the Blue Jays are going to keep being aggressive, pursuing Romero makes a lot of sense. 

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