Outfielder Dexter Fowler has requested and been granted a release from his minor league contract with the Blue Jays, reports Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports (Twitter link). Toronto elected not to select him onto the big league roster, and Fowler is now a free agent.
The 36-year-old Fowler signed with the Jays during Spring Training. He didn’t appear in a game with Triple-A Buffalo until last Thursday, as he finished his recovery from the ACL tear that ended his 2021 season in April. The veteran switch-hitter only played in three games with the Bisons, collecting five hits (all singles) in 12 at-bats with a pair of walks and strikeouts apiece.
Fowler will now presumably set out in search of another MLB opportunity. A respected 14-year veteran, he’d surely at least find more minor league interest if he’s amenable to another non-roster deal. It’s not clear whether he’ll find an immediate big league job after just 15 Triple-A plate appearances, but perhaps a team dissatisfied with its internal outfield options could turn to a player with a solid .259/.358/.417 career line.
The Jays have relied on George Springer, Teoscar Hernández, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Raimel Tapia and Bradley Zimmer thus far. Tapia and Zimmer have each struggled, but the Jays acquired both players via trade in recent weeks. (The Zimmer acquisition came after Fowler had signed with Toronto). Hernández has been on the injured list because of a oblique strain, but he’s set to head out on a minor league rehab assignment. It seems the Jays are content with that quintet as their outfield grouping for now.
This guy will always be apart of history for that 2016 Cubs World Series team. Good luck Dexter!
Agreed. He was an important part of a very good Cubs team. A team that should have won another WS or at least made another appearance or two. That was the good old days for Cubs fans.
The Cleveland Guardians should give him a call and sign him.
Absolutely
Their terrible
There are 10 teams with worse records than Cleveland’s, which isn’t bad considering the lowly predictions for the Guardians before the season started. Their lineup is 10th in runs, 9th in fWAR and 7th in OPS.
There is little harm in signing a guy like Fowler to a minors deal. Kwan, Straw and Naylor are all hitting well. Kwan and Straw are both good defenders. There is no way a guy like Fowler deserves a look at the major league level over those three guys. Fowler has had a great career but hasn’t hit in 5 years.
Cleveland just signed Anthony Alford to a minors deal so doubt they’d also sign Fowler.
Chaim Bloom on line 1.
I hope not. Fowler has had a nice career and while 5 for 12 makes a nice slash line it’s already painful enough watching JBJ strike out or line out every trip to the plate. I would much rather see Duran get another shot than wasting a roster spot on Fowler
Duran should get a shot especially considering the Sox are garbage this year (thanks to Bloom). Unfortunately, Cora doesn’t really seem to like Duran. Seems he’d rather go with Enrique (Can’t get on base) Hernandez to lead off and the always tepid Franchy Cordero.
Agreed. Why would the Sox want to even try… Fowler’s career slash is okay, and that’s including his peak years. He’s terrible now.
Hello Red Sox?
I would have to speculate that he has an offer from a team to do a continued AAA ramp-up for a week, and then maybe a MLB roster spot? Or, maybe 15 ABs is all he needed?
Padres could use a RF while Myers is out.
I would love to see him back in Chicago for the Cubs and finish out his career there…
They could use him both if Hermosillo can’t hit, and to help mentor Brennan Davis as well once he comes up. He may be a better 4th outfielder than Heyward even at this point at 1/22nd of the cost.
I’d have rather kept Fowler instead of Bradley Zimmer on the team. I know Zimmer is there for speed and defense, but it doesn’t make up for the black hole that is his offense.
Agreed. Zimmer makes sense on paper for Toronto; LH elite defensive CF with power. Alas, he’s been an absolute liability at the plate (1 HR, 1 bunt single, and 1 BB in 32 plate appearances to go with 13 strikeouts, 0/1 in stolen base attempts).
With a .292 OPS, I’d sooner see Santiago Espinal play CF when Springer needs a day off his feet.
Ryan Langerhans and Drew Sutton bounced around as all glove no stick options 10-12 years ago, but they at least offered a low .200s BA. Zimmer could survive with even a .225 BA, but it’s clear to see that’s a bridge too far.
It’s impossible for Zimmer to continue to be that bad at the plate. Even the average NL pitcher (before this year) had a higher OPS. Judge him by his career numbers — terrible, but not that terrible.
Another former Rockie that hit just fine after he left Denver. In fact his best three wRC+ years were after he left. Just add it to the pile, although the “debate” is getting embarrassingly lopsided.
Bucs? Not sure what there OF is like
It makes no sense for the Bucs to give ABs to a 36 year old.
If he has another MLB PA in his future, it will be on a good team not a bad one. The bad ones want to play prospects and lose games, in that order.
Sometimes you just need to fold’em. Dex is no longer a + anything and actually negative WAR type guy.
Preller, sign him to the Major League Minimum, laced with 2 million in incentives. We need OF help!!!
If CLE didn’t already have a roster crunch I could see them taking a flier as the need is real. A’s need something – anything – but if he wants more than league minimum, it ain’t happening.
Jed Hoyer on line 1
Cardinals fan here. I would love for some team (Cardinals, Cubs, Rockies) to sign Dexter to serve as a roving Minor League instructor. I feel he has so much to give, but I would guess his big league playing days are over.
Didn’t realize he was still playing
Ron Kulpa should never be behind the dish. Awful zone.
I regret my hot take, based on a series of bad calls at the outset. He tightened it up after that and called a decent game — except for missing Vlad’s tag of Gonzalez going home. But, hey . . . nobody’s perfect.
Main thing is, Canadians are good people:
mlb.com/video/aaron-judge-homers-9-on-a-fly-ball-t…
I think the Jays should have given him a shot and filled a roster spot with him. Experience goes a long way and I think the Jays missed a golden opportunity here. Nothing against Zimmer and Tapia at all. I just thought Fowler deserved a shot.
Or maybe he’s not as healthy as expected. Only Dexter and the Jays really know.
He should have gone to Korea or Japan. That’s not a knock. He could still be good there and get a great salary compared to what we make.
“The veteran switch-hitter only played in three games with the Bisons, collecting five hits (all singles) in 12 at-bats with a pair of walks and strikeouts apiece.”
That’s a .417 BA. Yeah, it’s Triple-A, but still.
He could bat 4th for the reds right now.