SATURDAY, 12:17PM: The move is official, as per a Blue Jays press release.
SATURDAY, 11:59AM: Floyd’s deal with the Jays is a Major League contract, Gideon Turk of Blue Jays Plus was first to report (via Twitter). Floyd will earn a $1MM base salary and can get up to $1MM in incentives based on how many days he spends in the 25-man roster. He’ll also receive $500K for 90 days on the roster, $250K for 120 days and another $250K for 140 days, per Jon Heyman (Twitter links).
THURSDAY: Right-hander Gavin Floyd “appears headed for [a] deal with [the] Blue Jays,” Jon Heyman reports (on Twitter). SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets that the Moye Sports client is indeed in agreement with the Jays, pending a physical.
Floyd, who turned 33 just last week, would serve as a back-of-the-rotation option for the Blue Jays, though it’s tough to imagine he’d be promised a spot in the starting five after throwing just 92 Major League innings across the past three seasons. The longtime White Sox righty underwent Tommy John surgery early in the 2013 season and returned with a flourish with the Braves in 2014 (2.65 ERA in 54 1/3 innings) before missing the remainder of the season due to a fractured olecranon bone in his right elbow. Somewhat astoundingly, Floyd suffered the exact same injury in Spring Training with the Indians last year. He was thought to be lost for the season, although he did return to toss 13 1/3 effective innings of relief late in the year. Given the lengthy list of recent injuries, Floyd seemed like a candidate for a minor league deal, though details on his agreement with Toronto remain unclear.
At his best, Floyd has proven to be a highly capable mid-rotation arm, although it’s obviously been quite some time since he was healthy enough to display that over the course of a full season. Nevertheless, from 2008-12, Floyd averaged 190 innings of 4.12 ERA ball with 7.2 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 45.1 percent ground-ball rate. When adjusting for Floyd’s hitter-friendly home park and the heightened offensive output league-wide during that period, Floyd was about eight percent better than the league-average pitcher in terms of both ERA and FIP.
Clearly, president of baseball operations Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins, both former executives with the Indians, think highly of Floyd, as this is the second time he’s signed with a team under that duo’s leadership. Floyd had reportedly drawn interest from the division-rival Orioles on a minor league pact earlier this offseason and had also been speculatively mentioned as a fit for the Rangers, among other clubs.
Floyd will look to crack a rotation that currently has Marcus Stroman, R.A. Dickey, Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ locked in place. Toronto has no shortage of candidates for the fifth spot, with Drew Hutchison, Jesse Chavez and Aaron Sanchez representing rotation options on the 40-man roster (to say nothing of non-roster invitees like Scott Diamond, Roberto Hernandez, Wade LeBlanc and Brad Penny as potential depth pieces to stash at Triple-A).
how does he keep getting a job all he does is get hurt
He carries potential upside of a back-end to mid-rotation starter based on his track record. Because of his recent injuries, his salary commitments are likely to be relatively small (probably some small base salary with decent incentives attached).
So why not sign him?
I think the fact he can give you 7-8 above average starts with the potential to give you 20-25 over a full season is why he keeps getting offers.
Start printing the playoff tickets!
Another Dumpster Dive move for management. Expecting that 5 star dining experience at The Mandarin!
I like this move. He’s a good character piece and can get the job done when health which hopefully he can stay this year. Honestly what more could you want from a signing like this.
On another note. Any word on Johan Santana’s health? Could be a nice cheap pick up if he’s finally healthy.
I think they did that very move in 2015…
And somebody has to pitch in Buffalo. The Jays traded a lot of their minor league pitching talent.
I like it. Who knows, maybe Floyd can be an effective reliever? Ya never know until you try.
Floyd is okay as long as things go his way. He gets flustered when he loses control of a game. He’s a good pitcher and he could be a better pitcher if he could overcome this.
He’ll compete for the #5 job with Chavez, Hutchison and Sanchez. The bonus being that the 3 losers of that competition likely join Cecil, Osuna and Storen in the bullpen. One the long man and the other 2 going middle relief/late inning work.. It’s a good thing to take a chance on a guy has experience as a back of the rotation arm, but can also throw in the pen as the worst case.
This isn’t a signing likely to make a massive difference in the grand scheme, but it’s a nice signing. And I doubt it’s going to cost the Jays much at all.
Shapiro was impressed like most of the Indians front office that Floyd made it back for the Indians stretch run last year. Floyd’s velocity was good occasionally topping out at 95 mph & good run. If Floyd doesn’t make the rotation he is a solid option as a bullpen arm in low-leverage situations that could eat innings for a bullpen. Good signing for the Blue Jays.
He wont make it past 5 starts dudes made out of glass
Jays go dumpster diving on someone who used to get it done. Sounds all to familiar for the current regime. I won’t stay up & hope you sign someone with ace potential…feels like those days are done.
Said purely in jest, but, Manny Lee as a username? Have you heard the phrase “The Blue Jays won a championship despite having Manny Lee at SS!” ? Every team has a few “dumpster dives” :)
I’d be fine with only a few, unfortunately it’s the case in the majority of free agent cases. Used to be only on occasion in the past. I guess it all comes down to real estate & where the dumpster is? Perhaps LA, NY or Chicago would have decent garbage or leftovers??? We used to lead not fight for scraps. You’ll only get out what you put in. Gavin Floyd…LOL!