We’re just a month away from pitchers reporting to Spring Training and James Shields is still without a team. That could be changing in the near future if the Toronto Blue Jays are able to convince the free agent to take a dip in pay, this according to Ken Rosenthal who reports Toronto is showing renewed interest in Big Game James.
As the price for James Shields drops, an increasing number of clubs are renewing their interest in him.
The Toronto Blue Jays are one of those clubs, according to major-league sources.
When teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were showing interest in the former Kansas City Royals ace, it was said James Shields was demanding upwards of a $100 million dollar contract. Understandably, teams decided to balk at offering such and now the veteran arm sits without a home.
The Toronto Blue Jays meanwhile are said to have interest, something they also had earlier in the offseason though are not currently working on a deal with Shield’s agent Page Odle. That’s only likely to happen if the pitcher is willing to reduce his asking price to $70 or $80 million, a figure that will likely interest multiple other teams in addition to the Blue Jays.
All that said, he’d certainly give Toronto a solid anchor to a starting pitching rotation that already includes R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle.
