Blue Jays sign Cody Ponce to 3 year deal

[G-Snarls]

25 minutes ago, Omar said:

Well kudos to Ponce for reinventing himself in the KBO and getting back in mlb.  The contract of 3/30m is lifechanging.  The Jays are definitely building up starting pitching depth in what they will likely transfer to a lighter workload across the season for all the starters so they enter the postseason completely fresh.  Very strategic.

This also tells me that Atkins has an exit plan for Berrios already.  Got to be right?

Yeah you don't add Cease and Ponce and keep Berrios do you? It's hard to see the trade he pulls off but I'm expecting it now. 

[Laika]

Yoo Mitchy White was pretty good in the KBO last year too lmao 

Bring him home?

[BTS]

Gausman, Cease, Yesavage, Bieber, Ponce is definitely the most fun Jays rotation of all-time, right? Like, with this defense we could set franchise run prevention records. 

[rydermike]

Only way Yesavage starts in the minors is if he gets injured in spring training. 

[glory]

 

[BTS]

 

[Sasky05]

41 minutes ago, rydermike said:

Only way Yesavage starts in the minors is if he gets injured in spring training. 

I agree, I don't think Yesavage would be very happy pushed back down to the minors. He's earned the right as an MLB starter, 

[Eat My Shatkins]

Well, this off season is shaping up to be all kinds of fun isn't it?

Biggest question mark for the Jays going into the off season was starting pitching and they got Bieber, Cease and Ponce all signed before the winter meetings.

Boss Atkins killing it.

[Brownie19]

2 hours ago, Jonn said:

He was terrible in 2024 in Japan.

by ERA - yes.  But his xFIP was 3.00 - the same as his previous 2 years in the NPB when his ERA was 3.35 and 3.66.  He was good in the NPB - but not dominant.

It is odd that he left the NPB for the KBO last year though.  I wonder what the backstory is.

[Stangstag]

5 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

by ERA - yes.  But his xFIP was 3.00 - the same as his previous 2 years in the NPB when his ERA was 3.35 and 3.66.

Something something Dylan Cease sucks

[Vancouverite]

53 minutes ago, BTS said:

Gausman, Cease, Yesavage, Bieber, Ponce is definitely the most fun Jays rotation of all-time, right? Like, with this defense we could set franchise run prevention records. 

Its high risk high reward if you ask me.

Could be one of the best rotations of the decade or quarter century.

Could also tank though. Ponce and Yesavage have great stuff but, still gotta prove themselves over a full year.

Bieber hope he's healthy and Gausman lets hope father time doesn't catch up.

That being said im super stoked for this rotation lol. But above question marks makes me thing they wont trade Berrios and maybe we enter the season with 7 legit SP options so we can keep depth/flexibiloty

[TRM]

1 hour ago, BTS said:

Gausman, Cease, Yesavage, Bieber, Ponce is definitely the most fun Jays rotation of all-time, right? Like, with this defense we could set franchise run prevention records. 

How quickly you forget the timeless 2013 rotation of Dickey, Buehrle, Josh Johnson, Esmil Rogers and JA Happ. For shame BTS... for shame!

[Joltin Joe]

2 hours ago, Laika said:

f*** I love being a fan of this team now 

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/blue-jays-cody-ponce-finalizing-three-year-deal.html

 

 

 

Never heard tell of him but Jays front office generally know what they are doing 

[saskjayfan]

2 hours ago, Jimcanuck said:

Alternatively, Yesavage starts in Buffalo and comes up after the 1st inevitable injury

So you want to lose out on a draft pick by starting him in the minors?

[Orgfiller]

2 hours ago, Jimcanuck said:

Yesavage had 25 MILB games in 2025, and pitched 98 innings or slightly less than 4 innings a game.

Im not sure the Jays are ready to give him a full workload.

lol

Let’s also forget the 41 innings pitched at the MLB level, 27 of which were in the postseason ho-hum.

[DonJays]

28 minutes ago, Vancouverite said:

Its high risk high reward if you ask me.

Could be one of the best rotations of the decade or quarter century.

Could also tank though. Ponce and Yesavage have great stuff but, still gotta prove themselves over a full year.

Bieber hope he's healthy and Gausman lets hope father time doesn't catch up.

That being said im super stoked for this rotation lol. But above question marks makes me thing they wont trade Berrios and maybe we enter the season with 7 legit SP options so we can keep depth/flexibiloty

Wtf 

[Jimcanuck]

29 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

lol

Let’s also forget the 41 innings pitched at the MLB level, 27 of which were in the postseason ho-hum.

Im not.  I wouldnt be surprised if the Jays are conservative with his usage in 2026.  My only reason for bringing it up is in relation to the question of whether the Jays keep Berrios or not.  This FO has not often traded contracts with cash.

It may be Ponce is a swing man with Lauer, and Berrios is kept as 5th starter.  To manage Yesavage workload, they run Ponce and Lauer out as a 6th starter several times each.

 

[Dr. Dinger]

Berrios is either about to have surgery or be traded for another suboptimal contract like Joc Pederson or Lourdes. 

Maybe you attach a decent prospect and just foist the payroll onto a salary floor team like the Pirates. 

[TRM]

1 minute ago, Dr. Dinger said:

Berrios is either about to have surgery or be traded for another suboptimal contract like Joc Pederson or Lourdes. 

Likely, or the real doomsday scenario is Bieber isn't right and his team friendly opt-in wasn't so magnanimous. 

[Perfect Game]

Pretty cool.

 

[Jonn]

55 minutes ago, Vancouverite said:

Its high risk high reward if you ask me.

Could be one of the best rotations of the decade or quarter century.

Could also tank though. Ponce and Yesavage have great stuff but, still gotta prove themselves over a full year.

Bieber hope he's healthy and Gausman lets hope father time doesn't catch up.

That being said im super stoked for this rotation lol. But above question marks makes me thing they wont trade Berrios and maybe we enter the season with 7 legit SP options so we can keep depth/flexibiloty

I wouldn't consider it high risk at all. It's a bargain for a pitcher that projects as well as him on the open market. I mean he could s*** the bed but that's not a contract that will haunt them by any means. Jays have punted worse. Tanner Roark got a higher yearly salary for example lol.

[jaysblue]

2 hours ago, ComeTogether said:

 

 

Very solid rotation and nice depth. 

[jaysblue]

2 hours ago, BTS said:

Gausman, Cease, Yesavage, Bieber, Ponce is definitely the most fun Jays rotation of all-time, right? Like, with this defense we could set franchise run prevention records. 

Halladay, Burnett, McGowan and Marcum at the start of 2008 was very exciting. Jesse Litsch was pretty solid as well as the No. 5 guy lol. Unfortunately injuries to McGowan and Marcum in the middle of the season dampened that excitement. 

Definitely a fun rotation now, but it lacks a Halladay/Clemens type of arm at the top. Maybe Cease can be that guy. Regardless, 1 through 5 is very solid if everyone stays healthy and pitches to expectation! 

[Vancouverite]

57 minutes ago, DonJays said:

Wtf 

Good talk bud

[jaysblue]

3 hours ago, Ray said:

Most exciting offseason for this team, maybe ever? 
 

it’s not even the Winter Meetings, and we’ve retained Bieber, and added Cease and Ponce

Nah, not even close IMO. If the Jays also resign Bo or sign Tucker or trade for Marte + sign a top reliever like Diaz then sure. 

Still think the 2005/2006 offseason was up there: signing Burnett, Ryan, Bengie, and trading for Glaus/Overbay. Considering the Jays prior to that didn't spend any money and never were real big FA players. Also, even though a lot of the moves never worked out, it was exciting trading for Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson and RA Dickey prior to the 2013 season. The offseason prior to 2015 trading for JD and signing Martin was exciting as well. 

The offseason before 2022 was exciting as well: trading for Chapman and signing Gausman. 

[Vancouverite]

32 minutes ago, Jonn said:

I wouldn't consider it high risk at all. It's a bargain for a pitcher that projects as well as him on the open market. I mean he could s*** the bed but that's not a contract that will haunt them by any means. Jays have punted worse. Tanner Roark got a higher yearly salary for example lol.

I wasn't referring to Ponces contract. I agree its a contract they can move off if they want

I meant the whole rotation is high risk high reward

[DonJays]

6 minutes ago, Vancouverite said:

I wasn't referring to Ponces contract. I agree its a contract they can move off if they want

I meant the whole rotation is high risk high reward

Guasmen, cease and Bieber should comfortably be a very good top 3. Lots of upside in the 4/5 spots w Trey and Ponce and then you have lauer, Beerios and Francis. I don’t consider this high risk at all. A very high floor and a high ceiling compared to almost any other rotation. 

[Terminator]

Me exactly one week ago = who the hell is Cody Ponce? Pass.

Me today = Cody Ponce is getting down ballot Cy Young votes this year 

[Terminator]

I could see the Jays hanging on to all of our starters, Berrios included. He ain’t worth s*** in a trade right now anyway so you can’t move his contract but on the other hand he’s a fine #5 starter and you can never have enough pitching. Might as well keep him.

Also, that playoff run was a gauntlet for guys like Gausman who ended up throwing over 220 innings when it was all said and done.

Just keep them all and limit everyone’s innings by using phantom IL stints like the Dodgers.

Let’s make sure everyone is ready to go for the playoffs so the World Series will be easy to make. 

[Joltin Joe]

8 hours ago, glory said:

 

Has any other Korean star jumped to MLB and been successful?