Atkins: Blue Jays have 'flexibility' to spend $100M on marquee free agent

The Toronto Blue Jays are poised to be aggressive in free agency, and general manager Ross Atkins said the front office has the green light to spend.

Atkins told the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America that the team has the financial "flexibility" to spend in the $100-million range on a marquee free agent, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

He added that the team was not ruling out any pitcher who remains on the open market, which could include Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg.

"There's not a free-agent pitcher that we haven't touched base with and we have been aggressively trying to understand every opportunity and we'll continue to do that," Atkins said, according to Davidi. "There remains opportunity out there."

The Blue Jays have been linked to the likes of Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dallas Keuchel, and Michael Pineda in recent days. Toronto was also reportedly interested in right-hander Zack Wheeler and catcher Yasmani Grandal prior to their signings.