The Blue Jays have dropped two notable players from their 40-man roster today, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Reliever Ryan Tepera was designated for assignment while infielder Devon Travis was outrighted.
Both of these players had been eligible for arbitration. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Tepera to earn $1.6MM and Travis to take home $1.95MM through the process.
It is at least a bit of a surprise to see the departure of Tepera, who just celebrated his 32nd birthday. The righty had mostly been a sturdy member of the Toronto relief corps before running into trouble in 2019. He ended the year with 21 2/3 innings of 4.98 ERA ball, with 5.8 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9. Tepera lost a good bit of fastball velocity but still managed a 12.6% swinging-strike rate.
Travis just hasn’t been able to get fully healthy since starting his time with the Jays with such promise. He appeared in 103 games last year, but showed poorly both at the plate (.232/.275/.381) and in the field (-6 DRS, -8.5 UZR). Travis never suited up this year as he battled ongoing knee problems.
Tepera is a good depth option for a team in need of BP help.
His numbers last year suggest otherwise. He’ll be lucky to get a minor league deal.
The Travis for Gose trade was definitely won by Toronto. With that being said, Travis is far removed from being an everyday contributor now.
He was never healthy enough to be an everyday contributor.
Tepera? Damn that sucks.
Yeah that is a bit of a surprise – Tepera has been one of the Jays’ best relievers. Perhaps they saw something in his last injury?
Something isn’t right if Teps isn’t on the 40 man.
I’m surprised they took this long with Travis
Is Travis eligible to elect free agency if he clears waivers?
Travis can elect to become a free agent-if he doesn’t accept his assignment.
Travis won his third Gold Whirlpool Award this year at 2B.
Was Ryan Tepera not expected to be at full strength?
Obviously more moves to come
Tepera was awful last year. He’ll land somewhere on a minor league deal, someone will definitely take a flyer on him.
I’m happy, though, that the Jays bit the bullet on this Tepera move. He’s been with them a long time and has been productive over the years. But, he’s taking up a spot for a young guy that I’m sure the team would prefer to give those innings too.
I’m sure Jimmertwee would comment that he predicted these moves 20 years ago…but he doesn’t seem to be around. Hmmm…
See below
Terry, so nice of you to remember me.
If Tepera is he as healthy he is an elite setup guy and definitely worth giving an opportunity.
As for Travis, yes I called years ago when he was healthy to move him or get him off the field because his knees cannot take any running around.
What is more disturbing to me is the continuing trend of poor decision making by Shapiro and Atkins to wait too long to trade guys. It’s a long list. And when they do trade them the return can be very poor.
The Anderson trade is puzzling although the Jays gave up virtually nothing to get him. He is a 4 inning $9 million opener. What happens to him in the dome and the ALEast? A 2 inning $9 million opener?
Anderson did play in Milwaukee, which is also a small park, but I think The Jays better have a couple of long relievers in the pen.
He’s strictly a salary dump by The Brewers, and The Jays do have a lot of room this year. His arb projections tell me he’s more valuable than what they’re paying him, so let’s wish him luck.
He’s going to eat some innings and get moved to a contender at the deadline for more than they paid to acquire him. It’s a pretty smart move for such low risk.
There’s a good chance Tepera will pass through waivers because of his issues last year. Not sure if he can refuse assignment or not. If he sticks around, he will be with The Jays at some point.
The article didn’t mention Ryan Borucki, who should be healthy for ST.