The Blue Jays and right-hander have agreed on a contract, per reporter . The details arent known but Romero says that the WME client is expected to have his physical in Toronto in the coming days. It was yesterday that the Jays were optimistic about signing the righty but that immigration i sues needed to be sorted out. As hes now apparently headed to Canada, it would appear those i sues have been resolved. Toronto has a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to make this deal official. Per , the agreement is for four years and $32MM. confirms that there is an agreement but adds that immigration hurdles remain. Enrique Rojas of ESPN reports (Spanish-language and ) that Rodrguez will actually do his physical in The United States but is waiting for a visa that will allow him to enter that country from the Dominican Republic. Rodrguez, 27 in March, has been an interesting wild card of this offseason. He had pitched as a starter at the beginning of his career in Cuba but then was moved to the bullpen during a three-year stint in Japan. He then briefly returned to a starting role for Cuba in the 2023 World Baseball Cla sic, then didnt return to his club in Japan. He was eventually granted his release and has been holding showcases for MLB clubs. Players coming to North America from leagues in other countries will often have wide ranges of evaluations from MLB clubs. Given the unusual path of Rodrguez, that variance might be even higher than normal. An optimistic club could look to his youth, past work as a starter and strong results as a reliever in 2022. But on the pe simistic side of things, the righty hasnt worked as a starter in many years and hardly pitched at all in 2023, which gives him an uncertain path forward. At the start of the offseason, that Rodrguez could secure a four-year, $32MM deal. He began his career in the 2015-16 season of the Cuban National Series when he was just 18 years old. He pitched in 91 games in that league over multiple seasons, starting 72 of those and posting a combined earned run average of 3.30 in 464 1/3 innings. For the 2020 season, he signed with the Chunichi Dragons of Japans Nippon Profe sional Baseball. That club kept him in the bullpen over the next three seasons. He to sed 175 1/3 innings in that time with a 3.03 ERA. He struck out 25.4% of opponents while walking 10.4% of them. His 2022 campaign was especially impre sive, with a 1.15 ERA in 54 2/3 innings, striking out 27.5% of opponents while walking just 8.3%. He made two starts in the WBC, throwing 7 1/3 innings with 10 Ks but six walks. Rodrguez got plenty of interest this offseason, with many clubs attending his showcases. The Rays, Red Sox, Padres, Astros, Pirates, Yankees and Reds all were connected to him at various points, with some viewing him as a starter while others considered him a better fit as a reliever. The Jays were one of the clubs that viewed him as a capable starter and they appeared to emerge as the favorite to land him in recent weeks. The Jays came into the winter with Paul Ludwinski Jersey their pitching staff in decent shape while their lineup seemingly needed more attention. But adding some pitching was also still a consideration for the club, as shown by their interest in and . The Jays have four rotation spots spoken for, with , , and all still with the club for 2024. But the final spot in the rotation is a bit more murky. had a rotation job coming into last year but struggled badly enough that he was twice optioned to the minors. returned from his Tommy John surgery rehab midseason and supplanted Manoah in the rotation, but then reached free agency at seasons end. between Manoah and the Jays may not be perfect after last years struggles but he to have an edge on a rotation spot not too long ago. Manoahs name has also been in some trade rumors this winter and its po sible that bringing Rodrguez aboard makes a deal more likely. But as mentioned, Rodrguez didnt pitch last year after the WBC and was working as a reliever for the previous three seasons. The Jays likely dont expect him to suddenly pitch 200 or even 150 innings this year without i sue, meaning he might be more of a long-term project. Its entirely po sible that they keep Manoah and then have Rodrguez working multi-inning stints out of the bullpen with an eye on a larger workload in 2025 and beyond. They also have other potential starters on the roster, such as , and . Not yet on the roster but in the mix is prospect , who is on the cusp of the majors after he reached Triple-A last year. However, injuries limited him to just 62 innings for the year, between the minors and then a stint in the Arizona Fall League. Similar to Rodrguez, he will likely have some sort of workload limit in front of him this year. There are still a few unanswered questions for the Jays. How Rodrguez looks in spring and then how he proceeds throughout the year will undoubtedly impact the answers to those questions. If he becomes a viable starter going forward, he can help the Jays absorb some upcoming departures. Kikuchi is slated for free agency after 2024, Ba sitt after 2025 and Gausman after 2026. If that doesnt pan out, the club will be hoping for a fallback plan of him settling in as an a set in their bullpen. Relievers and are slated for free agency after 2024 while each of , , , and are slated for the open market after 2025. If the Jays have enough confidence in Rodrguez and the rest of their staff, perhaps they can use it to addre s their lineup in some way. They lost , and to free agency a few months ago and have thus far made one addition by signing glove-first utility player . The club can still sign free agents, with each of Chapman, Belt and Merrifield still being available, but its po sible the budget is getting tight. estimates the clubs payroll is at $221MM, just a bit above last years $215MM, with their competitive balance tax figure at $231MM. The clubs CEO/president Mark Shapiro had this years payroll would likely be similar to last years. The details of the deal for Rodrguez still arent known but the club will be pushed further beyond last years payroll. Their CBT number will also surely wind up over the $237MM base threshold. A trade could allow the club to get another bat or two without having to pay open-market prices for current free agents, but its also po sible theres still more spending capacity for a free agent addition. The club has been connected to sluggers like , , and others. Phil Russell Jersey