Nick Pivetta is a free agent after the Padres declined his club option, and the Blue Jays should be calling. The Canadian right-hander could be a bargain.

San Diego passed on a $14 million option for 2027. Picking it up would have triggered an $18 million player option for 2028.

Health is the reason. An elbow injury cost him almost five months and limited him to eight starts in 2026.

When he pitched, he was sharp. He posted a 2.86 ERA and 1.010 WHIP over 34.2 innings.

That followed a career year. In 2025, he finished sixth in NL Cy Young voting with a 2.87 ERA and a 3.49 FIP.

Is the elbow a red flag or a one-off? His history leans toward the latter.

Nick Pivetta's durability record makes the elbow look like an outlier

He threw at least 145 innings every year from 2021 to 2025, mostly as a starter with some relief work mixed in.

Toronto badly needs that kind of arm. Behind Dylan Cease, Trey Yesavage dealt with inconsistent mechanics and health problems, and José Soriano wasn't sharp after the trade.

Cody Ponce is coming off a torn ACL. After that, the depth chart leans on minor leaguers.

Pivetta is a smart buy-low target, especially if his elbow imaging is clean. A short, incentive-laden deal could land a pitcher who was a Cy Young contender just one year ago.

Signing him now is like buying a top-rated car right after one trip to the shop. The repair is done, and the price just dropped.

The market may treat him as injury-prone because of the declined option. That's Toronto's opening.

He'd fit the plan of pairing a reliable arm with a big bat. And unlike Michael King, he won't cost anything close to $100 million.

There's also the home-country appeal. If Ross Atkins can bring a healthy Canadian starter to Toronto, it could be the quietly best move of the offseason.