TODAY: The deal is done, per Scott Mitchell of TSN (via Twitter). It’s a minors pact.
YESTERDAY: The Blue Jays are closing in on a contract with free-agent reliever Neil Ramirez, according to Roster Roundup. It’s unclear whether it’ll be a major league pact for Ramirez, whom the Indians released Aug. 2.
A veteran of several organizations, the 30-year-old Ramirez cracked Cleveland’s bullpen earlier this season and struggled to a 5.40 ERA/6.57 FIP in 16 2/3 innings. Ramirez logged a solid number of strikeouts (9.72 K/9), which he has done throughout his career, though he also issued 4.86 walks per nine and posted a paltry 25.0 percent groundball rate. The right-hander wasn’t that much more successful this season as a member of the Tribe’s Triple-A team, with which he recorded a 4.91 ERA/5.11 FIP. Ramirez did, however, manage 13.81 K/9 against 3.38 BB/9 during that 29 1/3-inning span.
A deal with the Blue Jays could present a quick path back to the majors for Ramirez, as the team dealt relievers Daniel Hudson, Joe Biagini and David Phelps prior to last week’s trade deadline. Out-of-contention Toronto’s now stuck with a fairly uninspiring group of options in front of closer Ken Giles.
Smh BB/9
Lol! Ramirez has “struggled to a 5.40 ERA” – that puts him in line to be our 7th inning guy.
Adding to our controllable depth – Ross Atkins.
Never mind Ramirez can’t perform on a championship level team.
That is the goal right? To build a championship team?
Sarcasm heavy.
Hahaha true I agree but I think at this point the goal is to have enough human beings to play the games. I’m probably getting called up soon.
Regardless of this player’s future, can’t take anything Jimmertee says seriously. How many times did you say Bo Bichette wasn’t going to be a quality big leaguer?? Guy is only breaking records left and right. Small sample size but you should probably stay ‘retired’. #ScoutsEyesBS
There isnt a worse guy than jimmertee. He’s just brutal.
yep… I am in a Jays group where his legendary posts are spoken about. It is quite comical how arrogant this guy is but knows absolutely nothing.
Why, becuase if you look at the big picture and over the Longterm I am mostly correct in my bluejays calls?
Which are those? All I ever see you post is that Bichette will be a bust, that biggio will be better than bo, and repeating the same things the jays need (Elite elite elite) on every post you comment on…
Just wait, over the LONGTERM, Bichette will be shown to be an average player. Twice in his minor league career he has gone into extended months long slumps. Just wait until MLB pitching figures him out and that slump hits him in MLB.
Will you apologize to me then?
Name this former Jays prospect:
First 15 games of his career hit .348/.392/.565.
Played 24 games the first year and finished with an .803 OBP (.301 BA)
Next season carried an OPS of 1.003 over the first 15 games. The walls came tumbling down thereafter.
Bo’s off to a great start offensively. Needs to work on D. We have to be patient and see how he adjusts.
The former prospect was Travis Snider, BTW.
Jimmertee: See, you post your rebuttal as an unprovable and unwinnable arguement. If Bichette continues playing well, you’ll argue give it more time to prove your right. When he hits a slump, you’ll claim “I told you!” Either way, you’ll use the excuse of time to justify why you’re right and everyone else is wrong…. short of a 15 year career. Not worth the trouble with you…
Werealljustguestshere. Good to have you back. Breath of fresh air in these blogs.
JaysforDays, Oh please, it won’t take 15 years to see this, maybe months. And when we see multiple slumps out of Bichette then we’ll know.
FYI< Bichettte has a great swing and I have said many other positive things in the past, most people seem to focus on the negative.
Bichette's swing is a lot like Donaldson;s. Trouble is, Bichette doesn't have Mookie Betts core or wrist strength over the long term, so he will tire and slump, then look great again.
This is great – we added another 2 months of control, which adds to our deadline acquisition of 42 years of control, which can become infinite years of control when they never make it to the major leagues!!!
so how many elite caliber relievers are available right now? Can you not wrap your head around the concept of this being a development year for the young position players? im sure when the time is right for contention, complimentary pieces will be added to bolster the rotation and bullpen.
Can’t develop if you aren’t given an opportunity. There are many guys in Buffalo they can add to the 40-man and call up. Blue Jays add an ex-Cleveland guy serving up bombs in Ramirez. At this point if you aren’t questioning the front office then what are you doing?
obviously im scratching my head a little bit in regards to some of the recent moves. But im going to wait and see what they do next year to compliment the position players we have before i start hitting the panic button.
We are beyond the panic button to the point where there is no panic button. Until the front office can prove they can negotiate and stop overvaluing talent they do not need there is no such thing as a wait-and-see approach. This team did that with Donaldson and others, allowing value to disintegrate. Waiting pushed the Jays into this mess in the first place.
must be an amazing guy to be around. And he’ll fit right into the amazing clubhouse atmosphere….to bad he might not be able to pitch anymore
If you squint and turn your head to the left, Neil Ramirez is actually an acceptable bullpen piece.
bring clippard back
Not saying even for a second that Neil Ramirez will be anything but, well, Neil Ramirez, but, look at Gio Urshela! Lol.
Atkins, “ we have been after this guy for a long time” lol
Tanking too late to get Blaze.
Too late in the season to start picking up 30-year olds who can’t get guys out.
Went to see the Bisons this past weekend. Based on what I saw from their pitching, I can understand why the Jays are adding Ramirez!
For all the top prospect position player talent they have, they sorely lack that high minors/mlb ready pitching minus potentially Kay.
And Kay’s Minors debut 8 hits over 4IP was hopefully not a good indication of future potential.
At least most of their AAA team and depth is in the MLB now and they can use that as an excuse. Going to be interesting to see what they do in the offseason on the pitching side.
Almost unanimous, all but one agree that Shapiro/Atkins suck…bad.
Atkins has put the Jays in the position of now having to buy starting pitching in two years. So much has changed recently In pitcher usage. Gone are the days of the workhorse pitcher. There’s so much value in the openers and long relievers. More on quality of pitches rather than watching a tired pitcher try to go a third time through the order.
But there’s no doubt in my mind, 2020 will be the low point in the rebuild. It will be a starting staff of #5’s at best.
I’m fine with that as long as the purse strings open when the team is ready for a push. We need several TOR pitchers and they aren’t developing them on the farm, so either they spend the cash or get ready to gut that farm system sooner than later.
Agreed. Who knows how healthy Pearson will be once he reaches the majors. Kay can’t get guys out in AAA. The Trent Thornton hype train should have never started. The rest of the pitching prospects are not close to the big leagues. Two trade deadlines in a row the Jays haven’t properly addressed starting pitching.