The Blue Jays agreed to sign 37-year-old right-hander Nelson Figueroa to a minor league contract, Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes tweets. The ACES client would earn $650K on the big league roster.
Figueroa started the 2011 season in Houston's rotation, but the Astros released him in August after he posted an 8.69 ERA with 5.3 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 in 29 innings. He spent most of the season at Triple-A, where he posted a 6.05 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 99 2/3 innings. The Pirates picked him up in August, only to grant him free agency after the season. This is clearly a depth move for the Blue Jays.
Does this count as an increase in payroll?
Go Figueroa
he’s now the only switch hitter on the jays roster.
Nelson has the distinction of being the only MLB player to ever graduate from Brandeis University (D3 – Waltham, MA).
Yay Figgy! Good for him. THis is a non-story but Nelson is a good guy. Although his spot starting days may be over
This might free up Joel Carreno for bull-pen duty on the 25-man roster. Currently, Carreno is slotted as 6th starter playing in AAA.
His name makes me want to sing opera…
The genius at work.
/s
In December, AA said Carreno will probably open the season as a starter in Las Vegas so the Jays have a 6th starter. This was a direct result of Jays trading Nestor Molina. Having starting depth on minor league contracts might free up Carreno for the Blue Jay bullpen.
Probably is just insurance for May/June until Jays are comfortable moving one of Jenkins, McGuire, or Hutchison onto the 40-man roster. AA seems to be cautious about moving prospects onto the 40-man roster. He probably wants to avoid burning optional assignments unnecessarily as was done with Travis Snider.
Need arms for Las Vegas.
They’ll likely let Carreno keep starting in AAA until he is needed in the majors be it starting or relief. I don’t see anyway Carreno breaks camp with the big club though unless they go with 8 guys in the pen again. And even then, let the kid start in AAA.
rogers is a multi-billion dollar company, they damn well know you have to have a quality product before anyone will buy. but you’re assuming that a quality product can only be built through splurging in FA. they think a championship quality team can be built otherwise, and there is evidence that agrees with them.