Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Blue Jays Rumors

Pirates Claim Thomas Hatch Off Waivers

By | at

The Pirates have claimed right-hander Thomas Hatch off outright waivers from the Blue Jays, as announced by both teams.  Toronto designated Hatch for assignment earlier this week.

The move officially ends Hatch’s tenure in the Jays organization after a little over four years, as Toronto initially acquired the righty in a deadline deal with the Cubs on July 30, 2019.  He made his MLB debut in 2020 without the benefit of any Triple-A experience (due to the canceled minor league season) and made a good first impression, as Hatch had a 2.73 ERA over 26 1/3 relief innings despite some shaky peripheral numbers.

Hatch ran into struggles after that debut season, posting a 4.45 ERA over 240 2/3 innings at Triple-A Buffalo from 2021-23.  This inconsistency as both a starter and a reliever translated into Hatch’s limited big league work, as the Blue Jays have given him a few looks in each of the last three seasons without much success.  Hatch has an 8.85 ERA over 20 1/3 Major League innings since the start of the 2021 season, with seven of his 10 appearances coming out of the bullpen.

Pirates GM Ben Cherington was working in Toronto’s front office when Hatch was first acquired in 2019, and that familiarity surely contributed to the Bucs’ claim.  Hatch gives Pittsburgh extra depth for the rotation or the pen, and he can still be optioned to the minors through the 2024 season, providing more flexibility.  It is possible Hatch (who turns 29 in September) might thrive with a change of scenery, but at the very least, he’ll give the Pirates another arm to perhaps eat some innings over the remaining two months.

Blue Jays Outright Mitch White

By | at

The Blue Jays announced this afternoon that right-hander Mitch White went unclaimed on waivers. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of major league service, White has to stick in the organization at Triple-A Buffalo.

Toronto acquired White from the Dodgers at last summer’s trade deadline. That deal looks quite regrettable in hindsight, as Double-A righty Nick Frasso has developed into one of the better prospects in a strong L.A. farm system. White was brought in to battle for a spot at the back of the Toronto rotation.

He started eight of 10 games down the stretch last summer, surrendering a 7.74 ERA across 43 innings. He was nevertheless in the mix for the fifth starter role in Spring Training, but an elbow injury cost him the first couple months of the year. White returned in early June and was pushed to middle relief. He tallied 12 2/3 innings across 10 appearances, giving up 11 runs with 13 strikeouts and seven walks.

While the former second-round pick had 3.58 ERA in 105 2/3 innings as a Dodger, he owns a 7.60 mark in 55 2/3 frames since being traded. White is also out of minor league option years, leaving the Jays to either carry him on the MLB roster or designate him for assignment. They chose the latter route upon acquiring Jordan Hicks from St. Louis last Sunday.

The Jays can keep White in Buffalo for the remainder of the season as rotation or long relief depth. He’d qualify for minor league free agency at the start of the offseason unless the Jays add him back onto the MLB roster.

Twins Claim Jordan Luplow

By and | at

The Twins have claimed outfielder Jordan Luplow off waivers from the Blue Jays, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Toronto designated Luplow for assignment prior to the trade deadline. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, the Twins moved Brock Stewart from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list.

Luplow adds some balance to a lefty-heavy Minnesota outfield. A right-handed hitter, he’s been a solid power threat against left-handed pitching throughout his career. Luplow owns a .226/.337/.497 slash in 520 MLB plate appearances versus southpaws. He’s been leveraged in a platoon capacity throughout his big league time, only picking up 467 trips to the dish against same-handed arms (and hitting .199/.289/.354).

The bulk of Luplow’s production has come in previous seasons, however. The 29-year-old has barely played at the big league level this year. He’s made seven appearances around a pair of DFAs with the Blue Jays, who’d claimed him from Atlanta during the first week of the year. He’s posted roughly average numbers at Triple-A Buffalo, hitting .239/.341/.438 over 208 plate appearances.

Stewart had been amidst a breakout season that was interrupted by elbow soreness. He went for an MRI this week after experiencing renewed discomfort (relayed by Dan Hayes of the Athletic). It’s unclear how long he’ll be out, though the transfer officially puts him on the shelf until the final week of August.

Blue Jays Designate Thomas Hatch For Assignment

By and | at

The Blue Jays announced a series of roster moves this morning. The club has selected the contract of infielder Davis Schneider from Triple-A, optioned infielder Ernie Clement to Triple-A, reinstated right-hander Jay Jackson from the family emergency list, and designated right-hander Thomas Hatch for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster stands at 40.

Hatch, 28, came over from the Cubs in a 2019 trade that sent reliever David Phelps to Chicago. He made his big league debut with Toronto in 2020 and has seen Major League action every season since. The 2016 third-round pick has pitched to a 5.28 ERA in 44 1/3 big league innings, fanning 21.3% of his opponents against a 12.4% walk rate.

While he’s worked primarily as a starter in Triple-A, Hatch has moved to the bullpen for the majority of his work in the upper minors this season. He’s pitched to a 4.40 ERA in 30 games — 45 innings — and notched a 27.8% strikeout rate and 10.8% walk rate. Hatch has typically kept the ball on the ground at average or better rates in Double-A and Triple-A, and this year’s 4.40 ERA in Triple-A is right in line with the 4.45 mark he’s posted in 240 2/3 total innings at that level.

Hatch can still be optioned for the remainder of the 2023 season. Add that to his respectable results in parts of three Triple-A seasons, his ability to work multiple innings in relief, and his experience as a starter — and it pique the interest of another club seeking some depth now that the trade deadline has passed. The Jays can’t trade Hatch at this point, so they’ll have to place him on outright waivers.

As for the 24-year-old Schneider, he’ll be making his big league debut the first time he gets into a game. A 28th-round pick in 2017, Schneider has been primarily a second baseman in the minors but also has more than 900 innings at the hot corner, more than 600 innings in left field and has added eight games at first base in the 2023 season. He’s posted an excellent .275/.416/.553 batting line in 392 plate appearances this season, walking at a massive 18.4% clip against a 21.9% strikeout rate.

Blue Jays Expected To Select Davis Schneider

By | at

The Blue Jays plan to promote Davis Schneider before tomorrow’s game in Boston, as first reported by Johnny Giunta (Twitter link). Toronto will need to create a vacancy on the 40-man roster to select his contract.

Schneider, 24, has spent six seasons in the minors. The Jays selected him in the 28th round of the 2017 draft out of a New Jersey high school. Schneider moved slowly up the ladder, first reaching Double-A last season. He had a solid .253/.366/.457 showing between a trio of minor league levels in 2022 but was nevertheless left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft.

After going unselected, he remained in the Jays’ system and was assigned to Triple-A Buffalo. Schneider has been one of the better hitters in the International League this season. Over 392 trips to the plate, he’s hitting .275/.416/.553 with 21 home runs. The 5’9″ hitter has walked at a huge 18.4% clip against an average 21.9% strikeout rate. While this year’s Triple-A environment has been very offense-heavy, that production still stands out.

Schneider ranks eighth among 88 International League batters (minimum 300 PA’s) in on-base percentage. He leads the league in walk rate and ranks 10th in slugging output. That breakout showing led Baseball America to slot him 15th among Toronto prospects in their recent farm rankings — the first time he’d made an organizational top 30 list at BA. The outlet points to a jump in Schneider’s minor league exit velocities and strong strike zone awareness.

Defensively, he bounces between second base, third base and left field. He’ll bring some flexibility to the bench but is regarded as more of a bat-first utility type. The Jays have Santiago Espinal, Cavan Biggio and Ernie Clement on the big league bench with a primary middle infield duo of Paul DeJong and Whit Merrifield while Bo Bichette is hurt.

Blue Jays Sign Rowan Wick To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Blue Jays signed reliever Rowan Wick to a minor league contract. He made his organizational debut with Triple-A Buffalo this evening.

Wick’s transaction log at MLB.com indicated he’d agreed to a minor league deal with the Braves last week. He was released three days later without making an appearance. That quick turnaround led to a shot with Toronto.

The 30-year-old appeared in the majors with the Cubs every season between 2019-22. He combined for a 3.66 ERA across 137 2/3 innings, missing bats at a slightly above-average rate but issuing a few more walks than ideal. The Cubs ran him through outright waivers in Spring Training and had kept him in Triple-A for the first half before releasing him last month.

Wick has had a tough season at the top minor league level. He’s been tagged for more than a run per inning through 30 1/3 frames. His 24.1% strikeout percentage was fine, but he’d walked upwards of 13% of batters faced and allowed nine home runs. Wick is making $1.55MM this season; the Cubs are on the hook for that tab, as Toronto will only owe him the prorated portion of the $720K minimum salary if he spends any time on the big league roster.

Toronto has had a solid relief corps this year. They entered play Wednesday ranked 10th with a 3.80 ERA and fourth at a 26.2% strikeout rate. A pair of trades with St. Louis to bring in Jordan Hicks and Génesis Cabrera further deepened the group. There’s no harm in taking a change-of-scenery flier on Wick to add some veteran depth to the upper level of the minor league system.

Blue Jays Place Bo Bichette On IL With Right Patellar Tendinitis

By | at

The Blue Jays announced that they have placed shortstop Bo Bichette on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 1, due to right patellar tendinitis. His roster spot will go to newly-acquired shortstop Paul DeJong, while the club also recalled right-hander Thomas Hatch and optioned righty Nate Pearson. Keegan Matheson of MLB.com and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet relayed the details prior to the official announcement.

The Jays haven’t released any information about how long they expect Bichette to be out of action, but it will be a blow to the club regardless. He suffered the injury on Monday, pulling up after rounding first and trying to stop to go back to the bag. Yesterday, manager John Schneider said there was “no significant structural damage” and that the club was still deciding on an IL stint. It now seems they have made the call to let Bichette have at least a week-plus to rest his knee.

The fact that the IL stint was a tough decision perhaps indicates he’s in for a quick stay, but that will still be an unwelcome development for the club. Bichette is hitting .321/.352/.494 this year for a wRC+ of 135, the highest such mark among qualified shortstops this year. The Jays will have to proceed without that production for a little bit as they have some key divisional matchups. They have two more games against the Orioles, after dropping the first two of the four-game set, before heading to Fenway Park for three against the Red Sox. The Jays hold a Wild Card spot in the American League but Boston are just a game and a half back coming into today’s action.

For now, the Jays will try to proceed with DeJong in Bichette’s spot. He was just acquired from the Cardinals at yesterday’s deadline, likely spurred on by Bichette’s injury, and is in the lineup at shortstop tonight. He has bounced back from a really rough showing last year, when he hit .157/.245/.286 while striking out in 33.3% of his plate appearances. He’s dropped the strikeout rate to 28.4% this year while slashing .233/.297/.412. His wRC+ of 96 is still a bit below average but is miles better than his 55 wRC+ from last year.

Even with the bounceback, DeJong’s offensive numbers still pale in comparison to Bichette’s. DeJong’s glovework is generally considered stronger between the two, which should make up some of the difference, but it’s unquestionably a challenge for the Jays. Once Bichette is healthy, DeJong could perhaps move over to second base. Whit Merrifield is having a solid season but can also play left field.

Minor 40-Man Moves: Adams, Ortega, Capra

By | at

With the trade deadline behind us, a few smaller 40-man transactions from throughout the day that weren’t previously covered:

  • The Angels selected outfielder Jordyn Adams onto the big league roster while transferring Jo Adell and Sam Bachman to the 60-day injured list. The 17th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Adams is set for his major league debut. The 23-year-old outfielder is hitting .264/.351/.466 through 389 plate appearances with Triple-A Salt Lake. Strikeout issues have knocked down his former top prospect stock, but he’s capable of playing center field and has stolen 37 bases in 42 attempts this year.
  • The Pirates selected infielder Vinny Capra. Pittsburgh acquired the 27-year-old for catcher Tyler Heineman in a minor swap with the Blue Jays at the end of April. His big league experience consists of eight games with Toronto last season. The right-handed hitter owns a massive .350/.457/.485 showing with more walks than strikeouts over 34 games at Triple-A Indianapolis for the Bucs.
  • The Mets selected Rafael Ortega. Signed to a minor league deal in mid-June, the lefty-hitting outfielder returns to the big leagues for a seventh season. Ortega hit .265/.344/.408 for the Cubs between 2021-22. He owns a .228/.352/.388 line between two Triple-A affiliates this season. The 32-year-old will be eligible for arbitration after the season if he finished the year on the MLB roster.

Injured List Transactions

Blue Jays Acquire Paul DeJong

By | at

The Blue Jays moved quickly in the wake of Bo Bichette’s knee injury last night, acquiring veteran shortstop Paul DeJong and cash from the Cardinals for minor league righty Matt Svanson.  The Jays designated outfielder Jordan Luplow for assignment to clear a roster spot for DeJong.

DeJong, who turns 30 tomorrow, has bounced back offensively this year from an increasingly rough three-year period.  DeJong has a 96 wRC+ on the season with 13 home runs in 306 plate appearances.

DeJong burst on the scene with a 123 wRC+ for the Cardinals in 2017, hitting 25 home runs and garnering a second place Rookie of the Year finish.  In March of the following year, the Cards inked him to a six-year, $26MM extension.  That deal includes a $12.5MM club option with a $2MM buyout for 2024, plus a $15MM option with a $1MM buyout for ’25.  For the remainder of this season, DeJong is owed about $3MM.  According to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals are covering buyouts and half of DeJong’s remaining salary.

The Blue Jays are set to pay the competitive balance tax this year for the first time in franchise history.  Their current CBT payroll appears to be right around the second tier of $253MM, beyond which a 32% tax will be paid.

DeJong’s bat slipped to a league average level in 2018-19, but he still popped 30 home runs, made the All-Star team, and posted a career-best 3.7 WAR in ’19.  However, his offense fell further in 2020, and by 2022 Tommy Edman supplanted him as the Cardinals’ primary shortstop by defensive innings played.  2022 was a low point for DeJong, as he was optioned to Triple-A for a period of nearly three months.

This year, DeJong started the season on the IL with a back injury, joining the Cardinals in late April.  He was able to regain the team’s starting shortstop job on the strength of a huge couple weeks.

As a defender, DeJong has posted above-average marks in recent years.  His Statcast outs above average ranks 21st among qualified shortstops since 2021, similar to Brandon Crawford and Ha-Seong Kim.  His defensive runs saved ranks 15th in that time, despite fewer innings than many of those ahead of him.

DeJong might not be the right-handed bat the Blue Jays had been seeking, but assuming he can continue as a league average hitter, he’s likely the best possible shortstop replacement for Bichette that GM Ross Atkins could find on deadline day.

Svanson, 24, was drafted in the 13th round by the Blue Jays in 2021 out of Lehigh University.  Though he made some A-ball starts last year, Svanson has worked exclusively in relief this year as he’s made his way to High-A.  At that level, he has a 1.23 ERA, 31.3 K% and 9.6 BB%.  Svanson has deployed his sinker to get a nifty 56.3% groundball rate in his 29 1/3 innings.  He’ll now head to Double-A with his new organization.

Luplow, 29, signed a one-year, $1.4MM deal with the Braves in December of last year.  He was designated for assignment in early April and claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays.  The Jays had booted Luplow off their 40-man by the end of that month, but he returned in July for three games with the big club.  Luplow had a 92 wRC+ in 208 Triple-A plate appearances this year.

GMs Ross Atkins of the Jays and John Mozeliak of the Cardinals have gotten along well in recent weeks, striking separate trades that sent relievers Genesis Cabrera and Jordan Hicks to Toronto.  Neither GM expected to be in such a position on deadline day: the Blue Jays adding a shortstop, and the Cardinals acting as a seller.  St. Louis has also shipped off Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton, with Jack Flaherty likely on the way out within the next four hours.

Jon Morosi of MLB Network was first to report a deal was close and name the player coming to the Cardinals, while Katie Woo of The Athletic reported the agreement was in place.

“No Significant Structural Damage” For Bo Bichette Following Knee Injury

By | at

3:11pm: Bichette has “no significant structural damage,” according to manager John Schneider, with Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reporting.  According to Nicholson-Smith, an “IL stint hasn’t been ruled out but [the] Jays will play it out for a few days first.”  Based on this information, it appears the Blue Jays may have dodged a serious injury to Bichette.  Nonetheless, earlier today they acquired Paul DeJong from the Cardinals.

9:45am: The Blue Jays expect to have more information about Bichette’s injury by noon ET, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN. That doesn’t guarantee they’ll publicly divulge anything at that point, but it’ll give them around six hours to search for alternatives if Bichette ends up missing time and the Jays feel it best to seek for help from outside the organization.

8:49am: Blue Jays star shortstop Bo Bichette suffered a right knee injury last night, and his prognosis figures to weigh heavily on the club’s trade deadline plans.  In the third inning of the club’s eventual loss to Baltimore, Bichette hit a potential double down the right field line, rounding first and then slamming on the brakes when right fielder Anthony Santander got the ball in quickly.  As you can see in the linked video, Bichette’s injury was significant enough that he gave himself up between first and second base.  He was able to walk off the field on his own accord, but with a limp.

As The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath reported last night, the Jays are currently calling the injury “right knee discomfort.”  It stands to reason the club might keep further information under wraps until after today’s 5pm central time trade deadline so as not to reduce their leverage in talks for some sort of help at shortstop.  The Blue Jays currently hold the last wild card spot in the American League.

Bichette, the AL leader in batting average and hits, is irreplaceable.  He’s rarely missed a game in the last three seasons, and was well on his way to a five-WAR season.  Certainly Jays GM Ross Atkins cannot go out and find another player of Bichette’s caliber.  Santiago Espinal replaced Bichette in the game and represents the short-term solution.  MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson ran through the Jays’ Triple-A shortstop situation, which does not present a clear replacement.

Matheson throws out a pair of potentially-available names in Tim Anderson of the White Sox and Paul DeJong of the Cardinals.  The Blue Jays and Cardinals already got together a couple days ago on the Jordan Hicks trade, and Atkins has suggested “bigger concepts” were discussed (Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reporting).

As McGrath put it, adding a right-handed bat to the lineup was already “a huge priority” for Toronto, but it’s possible adding a middle infielder could jump to the top of the list.  The team has used Whit Merrifield, Espinal, and Cavan Biggio at second base, all of whom are capable of playing elsewhere on the diamond.

Plenty of middle infielders have already been on the move in the past week, including Jace Peterson, Nicky Lopez, Amed Rosario, and Kiké Hernandez.  Most second basemen likely to be available are hitting quite poorly this year, such as Kolten Wong, Tony Kemp, and Aledmys Diaz.  Elvis Andrus is capable of playing shortstop, but he too is struggling with the bat.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top