The Toronto Blue Jays are among the teams interested in reliever Pete Fairbanks, reports The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
Rosenthal reported earlier this off-season that the Jays and Fairbanks were possible free agent fits.
According to Rosenthal, Fairbanks might be the next late-inning reliever to sign after Ryan Helsley reached a two-year agreement with the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend. Rosenthal notes the Jays had interest in Helsley, as well as relievers Raisel Iglesias and Phil Maton, who signed with other teams earlier in the off-season.
The Miami Marlins are also interested in the former Tampa Bay Rays right-hander, as are many contending teams, Rosenthal adds.
Toronto continues to pursue late-inning relief help after landing starter Dylan Cease on a seven-year, $210 million deal last week, the biggest contract handed out by a team so far this off-season.
The Jays came within two outs of the World Series but closer Jeff Hoffman served up a game-tying home run to Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas, whose solo home run sent the game to extra-innings. While Hoffman had been lights-out all postseason up until Game 7 with a 1.46 ERA, he did have an up-and-down regular season that saw him save 33 games but also allow 15 home runs, which was a single-season record for a Jays reliever.
General manager Ross Atkins would not commit to keeping Hoffman in the closer’s role for 2026, instead saying he views Hoffman’s flexibility to pitch in different roles as an asset.
Fairbanks saved 27 games for the Rays last season and has 75 saves combined over the past three seasons. He also turned in a 2.83 ERA while averaging a hair under a strikeout per inning.
He’s spent seven seasons with the Rays and owns a career ERA of 3.19.
