We’re clearly seeing the logjam now, and it explains why we moved on from Fitts — he either wasn’t going to fit on the 40-man, or someone very similar to him wasn’t going to make it.
My concern is this: if Crochet misses any real time in 2026, our rotation instantly becomes the Honda Civic of MLB rotations. That’s why we have to add another true top-end starter.
When you compare our rotation to the Yankees’:
• Crochet is the best, in my opinion
• very closely followed by Cole and Fried
• then there’s a big drop to Rodón
• another drop to Schlittler, Gray, and Bello
• and another drop to all of our young depth arms
And when you compare our rotation to the Blue Jays’:
• Crochet is still the best, in my opinion
• but after him there’s a noticeable drop-off
• Toronto has several arms in that next tier — Gausman, YeaSavage, and Bieber (Year 2 post–TJ)
• all of whom would currently slot ahead of our next group
All of this just reinforces how badly we need one more frontline starter if we want to compete with the top teams.