Tyler Mahle went from free-agent afterthought to October standout, and the Blue Jays are being urged to pounce. He'd add much-needed rotation depth.

His season started rough. With the Giants, he posted a 5.13 ERA over 18 starts, and his free-agent outlook looked bleak, according to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.

Then came the trade to Atlanta. He posted a 1.99 ERA with the Braves after the deadline.

October kept it going. He held opponents to a .184 average over two postseason starts.

SI's Maddy Dickens believes Toronto should be interested. She called him “the next best option who could go right in the middle of the rotation.”

Why the urgency? Because Toronto's rotation is thin behind its top three.

Tyler Mahle would cost a fraction of a Tarik Skubal deal

Dylan Cease, Trey Yesavage and José Soriano are set. José Berrios is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, and Shane Bieber and Max Scherzer are free agents.

MLB.com's Keegan Matheson noted the Jays are trying to find “that line now between bad luck and controllable variables.” Durability is the new priority.

Mahle played on a $10 million deal in 2026. Dickens added that he'll “cost a lot less than Skubal.”

He's worth a one-year offer. But Toronto shouldn't overpay for a hot two months, because the Giants version was only a few months ago.

Signing a pitcher off a hot October is like buying a used car after a great test drive. It ran beautifully around the block, but you still want to see the service records.

The Braves are expected to lose him in free agency. That opens the door for teams like Toronto.

He'd fit best as a back-end starter. That role would ease the pressure on Spencer Miles' workload and give John Schneider more options.

His price went up in October. If Ross Atkins can still land Mahle on a short deal, he becomes one of the smarter rotation buys of the winter.