The number was $30 million. The Toronto Blue Jays invested $30 million in Cody Ponce last offseason. It was a move to make the right-handed pitcher a part of their starting rotation.
Yet, one year later, they are still waiting, still wondering if that investment is going to pay off.
What the team got in 2026 was 2 1/3 innings. That's it. Not even three innings in, Ponce suffered a devastating knee injury that ended his return to Major League Baseball.
Now there are two years and $20 million remaining on his contract, and Toronto is going to have to answer a tough question.
Can they count on him? Will he be able to become the pitcher they thought they were getting?
That answer could be significant for the rotation. The question must be answered because it is just one of many facing this team in 2027.
Ponce had spent four seasons in Japan and South Korea, where he reinvented himself. Toronto noticed and signed him in December of 2025.
He had just come off a dominant year with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. He was 17-1, a nearly flawless record. Ponce recorded a 1.89 ERA and 252 strikeouts across 180 2/3 innings. It probably wasn't a hard decision to award him the Most Valuable Player honor.
Toronto believed he could translate that success to MLB, although that was a risk. He had been here before.
Ponce was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2015 and spent time in their organization until 2019, when he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He finally made his MLB debut in 2020 and then played in a few games in 2021, but the results were underwhelming. He was released from the team in 2021.
That's when his overseas career started, and he began to show that he could be a different pitcher than anyone had seen so far in the Majors.
Unfortunately, the Blue Jays never got a long enough opportunity to see it or find out if he really could produce on the MLB mound.
Toronto Blue Jays Cody Ponce (66) tips his cap to the fans upon leaving the game after being injured on a play at first base against the Colorado Rockies during the third inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
During his March 30 debut against the Colorado Rockies, Ponce suffered a right knee injury that would ultimately end his season before it ever got started.
He had to undergo surgery to repair his ACL.
For a pitcher who had put the time in and worked so hard to find his way back to the Major Leagues, this was a devastating blow.
For Toronto, the injury was equally catastrophic. The team had made a significant investment and then received no return on the first $10 million.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The recovery seems to be going well with good news being reported.
MLB.com's latest injury report shows the right-hander has progressed to throwing and is expected to make a full recovery and be back in action for spring training 2027.
That gives Toronto some reasons to be optimistic.
However, receiving medical clearance and actually returning back to being a productive starter in the majors are two completely different things.
Ponce has never completed a full MLB season as a starter. The results he has produced, even overseas, don't guarantee that he will be successful here.
Questions will still swirl about his knee and how it will hold up given the demands of a full season.
The Blue Jays now have Dylan Cease , Trey Yeasavage and Jose Soriano for their rotation. Spencer Arrighetti and Bowden Francis will also be in the conversation for starting spots.
Jose Berrios is recovering from Tommy John surgery while Shane Bieber and Max Scherzer will be free agents after the World Series.
That could create some additional opportunities, and Ponce's return will be important.
Clearly, Toronto would benefit from another reliable starter, and certainly one with the strikeout abilities Ponce has demonstrated would be welcomed.
Assuming that he will return and immediately provide impressive results would be a mistake.
Ponce deserves the chance to compete for a spot, and his recovery process is suggesting he will get that chance.
But the team has already lost nearly his entire first season of his contract, and with that, he will remain one of the biggest questions surrounding the Blue Jays this offseason.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/bluejays/onsi as Blue Jays Have a $20 Million Question to Answer With Cody Ponce in 2027 .
