Blue Jays Stun Baseball World with $30 Million Gamble on International Pitching Sensation Cody Ponce

Let me tell you, the Toronto Blue Jays aren’t messing around this offseason. On the very same day they inked Dylan Cease to a blockbuster seven-year, $210 million pact, they doubled down and locked in another arm who’s been on quite the detour. Cody Ponce is back in the MLB fold after spending three seasons sharpening his skills in Asia, and he just agreed to a solid three-year, $30 million deal with the Jays. Now, Ponce wasn’t exactly a headline grabber in the usual top-50 free agent chatter—but he caught eyes as quite the comeback story, and honestly, his journey makes for some compelling narrative.

This guy’s path from a shaky MLB start with the Pirates, where his ERA was hovering north of 5.8, to grinding it out in Japan, then absolutely dominating in the Korean Baseball Organization with the Hanwha Eagles—it’s a tale of resilience and reinventing oneself. With a 17-1 record, a ridiculously low 1.89 ERA, and snatching the Triple Crown along with MVP honors in KBO, Ponce’s made a surprising jump back to the big leagues. The Blue Jays now have a prized prize for their rotation, which already boasts some hefty names. But this raises a curious puzzle: with such a loaded pitching cadre, what’s the game plan moving forward? Hold tight, because the moves ahead might just reshape the whole pitching landscape north of the border.

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The same day the Toronto Blue Jays officially signed Dylan Cease to a seven-year, $210 million deal, they swooped in again for another starting pitcher.

Right-hander Cody Ponce, making his return to MLB after three years playing in Asia, agreed to a three-year, $30 million contract with Toronto on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Ponce was not among Yahoo Sports’ top 50 free agents, but he did receive mention as an intriguing player pursuing a comeback.

Previously a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, Ponce was released by Pittsburgh following the 2022 season. Up to that point, Ponce held a career 5.86 ERA in the majors. He opted to try reviving his career overseas, first playing in Japan with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters then the Rakuten Golden Eagles.

That first time in NPB actually didn’t work out too well, as Ponce’s 4.54 ERA across three seasons ranked well below league-average in the pitching dominated league. However, he found new life in South Korea with the Hanwha Eagles.

With a 17-1 record 1.89 ERA and 252 strikeouts in 180 2/3 innings, Ponce posted a Triple Crown, won KBO MVP honors and led Hanwha to the Korean Series, which they lost 4-1. With just one season, he re-established his MLB value with a two-tick spike in fastball velocity and the introduction of an effective splitter.

Now, he’s back in MLB, with an eight-figure deal to play for the defending AL champions. The signing does raise a question for the Jays, though.

What are the Toronto Blue Jays going to do with all these arms?

The Blue Jays now have both Cease and Ponce aboard, at the total price of $40 million per year (minues inflation on deferred money). That’s a significant investment, especially when the team seemed to only need one more starting pitcher when it entered this offseason.

In addition to Ponce and Cease, Toronto has a trio of veterans in Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber and José Berríos, as well as electric rookie Trey Yesavage, who made history multiple times during this year’s playoff run. That sextet will be due around $100 million in 2026.

Unless the Blue Jays are planning to roll out a six-man rotation or just really worried about one of their incumbent pitchers being hurt, there could be another move to come in the form of a trade. The likely candidate there would be Berríos, who has three years and $68.1 million left on his contract.

Berríos posted a 4.17 ERA in 166 innings last season — solid enough numbers — but was sidelined by an elbow issue in September and never appeared in the postseason. That’s a concerning development for a 31-year-old pitcher, but with the Ponce signing, it’s not nearly as much of a problem for Toronto going into 2026.