Foster Griffin’s MLB career has been two very different chapters.
The first included the Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays. The next, after a large gap, included the Washington Nationals and Cleveland Guardians.
His next chapter is waiting to be written, but it will depend on what happens this offseason. Griffin is heading for free agency.
His 2026 campaign is officially over, as the Guardians were eliminated in the ALCS by the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night in six games.
Now, Griffin heads to free agency in a very different place than he has been at any other point in his career.
His last MLB outing prior to 2026 came in 2022 with the Blue Jays. But this season, he raised his stock considerably.
Foster Griffin’s Path
Griffin first reached the major leagues with the Royals, who drafted him in the 2014 MLB Draft first round out of a high school in Orlando, Florida.
Griffin appeared in both 2020 and 2022 with Kansas City, then the Royals traded him to the Blue Jays in July 2022 for Jonatan Bernal.
The lefty got exactly one outing for the Blue Jays in 2022 — 2.0 scoreless innings in which he allowed one hit and one walk while striking out two.
Griffin may not have known it at the time, but it’d be his last MLB appearance for four years.
After that season, Griffin took his chances on a bold move — he went to Japan to pitch.
For three years, Griffin operated in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, regarded as the second-best baseball league in the world, and made major improvements.
That was enough to get Griffin a one-year, $5.5 million contract last winter from the Nationals.
Griffin was as advertised, making the All-Star Game while putting up a 3.06 ERA in 22 starts with the Nats.
The Guardians then traded for Griffin before the deadline, with him being available as a looming free agent on a Nationals team that wasn’t going to make the playoffs.
In nine regular season appearances with Cleveland, Griffin had a 5.19 ERA. He then had a 3.48 ERA in 10.1 postseason innings with 15 strikeouts.
Now, with Cleveland’s season over, Griffin hits the free agent market.
Foster Griffin Free Agency
Griffin goes to free agency at age 31 but with a lot less MLB experience than most free agents would have at that age.
It seems likely that he should top the $5.5 million he earned in 2026 by a decent bit — a lefty starter who is available each time through the rotation (and had a 3.60 ERA in 2026) is valuable. Griffin doesn’t rely on velocity, either, so he has the potential to age gracefully.
Maybe he could get an eight-figure annual average value for a couple of years, if a team likes his full body of work enough.
The Blue Jays probably wouldn’t bring him back, but they do have some different pitching decisions to make this offseason, and it wouldn’t be the worst move. It’d certainly create quite the fascinating reunion.
Ex-Blue Jays Pitcher Hits Free Agency After Guardians Loss