Yariel Rodriguez Free Agency: Blue Jays 'leading' race to sign Cuban pitcher, per MLB insider

Yariel Rodriguez is an exciting pitcher on the open market. He is coming off a short career in Japan, where he was named the Central League Most Valuable Setup Pitcher during the 2022 season.

Multiple teams have shown interest in the Cuban-born righty, but one team has recently taken the lead in the Rodriguez sweepstakes. That team is the Toronto Blue Jays, per ESPN's Enrique Rojas.

After learning they had missed out on Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Toronto has been active recently. They signed Isiah Kiner-Falefa on a two-year deal and Kevin Kiermaier on a one-year deal.

It is hardly a surprise that the Blue Jays are aggressively pursuing Yariel Rodriguez, who is close to making a decision. The team was one of the first tied to Rodriguez early on.

Breaking down Blue Jays' target Yariel Rodriguez

World Baseball Classic Quarterfinals: Australia v Cuba

Yariel Rodriguez started his career in 2015 in Cuba, where he pitched as a starter. After making his way to Japan in 2020, he was moved to the bullpen. He broke out during the 2022 season, where he was lights out. Rodriguez posted a 1.15 ERA on 56 appearances with a 27.5% strikeout rate.

He participated in the 2023 World Baseball Classic with Team Cuba, where he returned as a starter. He went 7 1/3 innings over two appearances.

Rodriguez's ability to eat multiple innings as a starter and being a dominant arm in the backend of the bullpen makes him intriguing. He is certainly somebody who could help the Blue Jays in the tough American League East division.

It has been reported that the Blue Jays view Rodriguez as a starter more than a reliever. Toronto has had problems with Alex Manoah and could view Rodriguez as his replacement.

With Rodriguez coming close to a decision, all roads are pointing to him signing with Toronto.