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Blue Jays Designate Raimel Tapia, Bradley Zimmer For Assignment

By Anthony Franco | November 15, 2022 at 6:25pm CDT

The Blue Jays have designated outfielders Bradley Zimmer and Raimel Tapia for assignment. Toronto also released left-hander Foster Griffin. In corresponding moves, the Jays selected the contracts of righty Yosver Zulueta and infielders Addison Barger, Spencer Horwitz and Orelvis Martinez.

Tapia landed in Toronto in the Spring Training deal that sent Randal Grichuk to the Rockies. The hope was to more adequately balance an outfield that skewed right-handed with a lefty-swinging contact bat, but Tapia didn’t have a great year. In 433 plate appearances, he hit .265/.292/.380 with seven home runs. He demonstrated his customarily solid bat-to-ball skills, but he rarely walked or hit for much power.

The 28-year-old was eligible for arbitration for a final time this winter, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a notable $5.2MM salary. That always looked likelier than the Jays were hoping to pay for a fourth/fifth outfield type, and today’s designation functions as akin to a non-tender. Toronto can technically trade Tapia in the next few days, but it looks likelier he’ll go unclaimed on waivers and be sent to the open market.

Zimmer also worked as a left-handed bench bat in the outfield. He got into 109 games between Toronto and Philadelphia but only picked up 117 plate appearances. He’s a solid defensive outfielder but has always been very strikeout-prone in the big leagues. That included a 38.5% strikeout rate this season, which featured just a .124/.207/.229 overall mark.

The 29-year-old (30 later this month) had been projected for a $1.3MM arbitration salary. As with Tapia, he’s effectively being non-tendered a few days in advance to clear the 40-man roster spot.

Griffin made just one two-inning relief appearance for the Jays after being acquired from the Royals midseason. The former first-round pick of Kansas City spent much of his tenure with Triple-A Buffalo, working 23 1/3 innings out of the bullpen there. He posted a 2.31 ERA with a solid 24.8% strikeout rate as a Bison.

Turning to the players joining the roster, Martinez and Zulueta were two of the easier calls to keep out of the Rule 5 draft around the league. The former was a high-profile signee out of the Dominican Republic during the 2018-19 international period. He’s appeared among Baseball America’s top 100 overall prospects in each of the past two years, garnering praise for his big power potential. He spent the entire 2022 campaign at Double-A New Hampshire as a 20-year-old but stumbled to a .203/.286/.446 line — albeit with a 30-homer showing that demonstrated his power upside.

Zulueta had a breakout year that saw him traverse four minor league levels. A native of Cuba, he combined for a 3.72 ERA with a huge 33.9% strikeout rate while topping out at Triple-A. Baseball America slotted him fifth in the Toronto organization midseason, praising his four-pitch mix. Zulueta, 25 in January, figures to start next season in Buffalo but could play his way onto the big league roster at some point during the year.

Barger, 23, was a sixth-round selection in the 2018 draft out of a Florida high school. He’s played all around the infield and performed at three minor league levels this year. The left-handed hitter combined for a .308/.378/.555 showing in 526 plate appearances, albeit with higher than average strikeout totals. BA ranked him 18th in the Jays’ system midseason.

Horwitz, 25, went in the 24th round of the 2019 draft out of Radford. He’s outperformed that modest draft stock and now sits on the brink of the majors after combining for a .275/.391/.452 mark in 483 plate appearances at the minors top two levels. He’s primarily a first baseman, putting plenty of pressure on his bat. According to Baseball America, he’s the #13 prospect in the organization.

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Toronto Blue Jays Transactions Addison Barger Bradley Zimmer Foster Griffin Orelvis Martinez Raimel Tapia Spencer Horwitz Yosver Zulueta

Rays Designate Ryan Yarbrough For Assignment
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Marlins Designate Elieser Hernandez, Four Others For Assignment
View Comments (63)

Comments

  1. JaysForDayz

    11 months ago

    Nice.

    2
    Reply
  2. Ketch

    11 months ago

    Raimel Tapia?

    He’ll be unemployed for a week

    9
    Reply
    • Seamaholic

      11 months ago

      Nah. Tapia’s run into the arbitration wall. Makes too much now for teams to want him as a 4th or 5th OF, and not good enough to be a starter for a good team, nor young enough to be a starter for a bad one. He’ll likely sign a minors deal.

      10
      Reply
    • C-Daddy

      11 months ago

      He had a 0.3 WAR last year and is projected to make something like $5 M in arbitration – the Jays’ money is better spent elsewhere.

      13
      Reply
      • bigdaddyt

        11 months ago

        Like 13 million to the worst starter in the league

        3
        Reply
        • Best Screenname Ever

          11 months ago

          Worse than that. Just looked and they’re on the hook for $15MM next year to Berrios. Yikes.

          Reply
        • Best Screenname Ever

          11 months ago

          Actually, it’s even worse than that. He has player options for $24MM PER YEAR for 2027 and 2028!! I think we can assume he’ll be exercising those. LOL.

          Reply
    • GMoney2850

      11 months ago

      Yeah I’m sure he’ll catch on in Mexico shortly

      Reply
    • kcmark

      11 months ago

      Tapia is on my all fish team. Along with Mike Trout and Anthony Bass.

      7
      Reply
      • Canuckleball

        11 months ago

        Not to mention AJ Pollock., Could also call Tim Salmon and Mike Carp outta retirement.

        4
        Reply
        • Tingles

          11 months ago

          Steve.

          Reply
      • Moonlight Graham

        11 months ago

        But does he really qualify for the squad? The fish is actually tilapia.

        3
        Reply
      • Moonlight Graham

        11 months ago

        They’re probably planning on adding a lefthand-hitting outfielder with a significant impact bat, maybe with idea of having four starting-caliber outfielders who can rotate between the field and DH.

        Especially considering that Tapia was pretty much the only left-handed hitter on the Blue Jays who made any measurable impact, they have to be focused on that upgrade.

        1
        Reply
  3. TennVol

    11 months ago

    Would have liked them to add Tanner Morris as well, but, can’t cover everyone.

    2
    Reply
  4. Milwaukee-2208

    11 months ago

    Tapia is going to be a good pickup for a team.

    7
    Reply
    • angt222

      11 months ago

      If he can play CF, Mets.

      1
      Reply
      • Bill M

        11 months ago

        4th outfielder

        2
        Reply
  5. TennVol

    11 months ago

    Hope not adding Tanner Morris does not come back to bite the Jays. Really great OBP guy and improving in the field.

    2
    Reply
    • KamKid

      11 months ago

      My understanding is Morris isn’t terribly good with the glove. Otherwise, he would seem a reasonable utility bench piece with his hitting ability.

      Reply
  6. fre5hwind

    11 months ago

    Keep Tapia as a backup at least.

    2
    Reply
    • jaysfansince1977

      11 months ago

      They added Lukes to the 40 man earlier and may feel he is a better hitter than Tapia

      2
      Reply
      • Canuckleball

        11 months ago

        He’ll be a cheaper player, at the very least, while providing, one imagines, similar production

        2
        Reply
  7. stroh

    11 months ago

    I thought Tapia was a pretty good player. Surprised.

    3
    Reply
    • Senioreditor

      11 months ago

      I’m guessing his extremely low OBP played a part in their decision.

      8
      Reply
      • Foxxfire

        11 months ago

        along with a dWAR worse than Bo Bichette who had a historically bad defensive year.. So naturally use him down and close and watch him and springer miss 4 balls zimmer and JBJ woujld get to.. maybe more. But hey, we had Kikuchi instead of Zimmer whom we apparently won’t even use in a blowout playoff game while …. I’m on a tangent. Still not over that game… Tapia is replacement level at the plate and I’d rather have Castellanos’ defense.

        I don’t understand how this management can seem so forward thinking and then make the most amateur illogical choices. Why reclaim ZImmer? What is going on?

        I’m really glad Tapia is gone. People love him here and it drives me nuts.

        1
        Reply
    • Lefty_Orioles_Fan

      11 months ago

      I was going to say, I thought he was pretty good and had speed as well

      3
      Reply
  8. ohyeadam

    11 months ago

    Check Zimmer’s slash line at your own risk. Warning, it’s the scariest thing you’ll ever see

    5
    Reply
    • baseballdadof4

      11 months ago

      I met Bradley while he was rehabbing in Akron. Great guy! He signed my son’s shirt and took a selfie with him. It was a great 13th birthday for my son! He’ll always have that monster HR he hit off his brother. If Bradley ever needs a slow pitch softball team, I’ve got a spot for him on my roster 😉

      1
      Reply
    • solaris602

      11 months ago

      Zimmer hits like a pitcher, and in many corners that’s insulting to the pitcher. Jays liked him so much they brought him back for an encore after PHI cut him loose. If any team can afford to carry an OF on their roster who simply CANNOT hit, Brad’s your guy.

      Reply
    • solaris602

      11 months ago

      Really needs to head to the instructional league where he needs to learn hitting from the ground up. Not sure how he rose through the ranks completely lacking that skill, but he pulled off.

      Reply
  9. TennVol

    11 months ago

    I like Tapia, but not as our 5th OF at $5M this year

    5
    Reply
    • C-Daddy

      11 months ago

      Exactly – his production to salary ratio makes him expendable.

      5
      Reply
  10. Samuel

    11 months ago

    I can figure Bradley Zimmer getting DFA’ed, but I wasn’t sure what team he was on this week.

    The Springer signing was supposed to settle CF for the Jays. Two years into a large 6 year contract and the guy has to play corner. So they paid a guy CF dollars to play a corner that he doesn’t hit well enough to justify that salary…with 4 years to go.

    How many CF’s are the Jays going to go through this year, unless they pay the FA price for Nimmo or make a major trade?

    Atkins can stand next to Ng trying to find a quality ML CF in trade for 2023.

    2
    Reply
    • TennVol

      11 months ago

      Well, they could sign Kiermeir to play CF, move Springer to RF, move Teoscar to LF and then trade Gurriel. That would solve the CF defense issue while putting your most fragile and expensive player to a less strenuous role defensively.

      1
      Reply
      • big boi

        11 months ago

        They aren’t going after kiermier Imo

        2
        Reply
      • Samuel

        11 months ago

        TennVol;

        With their luck Kiermeir would play well for a month, then have another physical problem.

        I keep writing about all teams and all positions – you have to develop your own.

        Reply
        • iverbure

          11 months ago

          Wrote at the time of the signing Springer wasn’t a CF. Still to this day the most games Springer has ever played in one season is 89 games in CF

          1
          Reply
  11. JoeBrady

    11 months ago

    Thay seemed like an odd set of pickups. A lefty Tapia as your #4, okay. But then a lefty Zimmer as your #5? And then following that up with lefty JBJ as your #6?

    3
    Reply
    • MuleorAstroMule

      11 months ago

      Biggio is the only other lefty in the lineup so the Jays tried to balance that out with Tapia and Zimmer. JBJ was signed because Zimmer, to put it nicely, didn’t meet expectations.

      1
      Reply
    • jdgoat

      11 months ago

      Ya, Tapia was pretty pointless. Sure he had the best bat of the three. But your extra outfielders need to at least play a moderately above average defense. Having him rostered necessitated at least one of the other two.

      2
      Reply
    • Diggydugler

      11 months ago

      They were all bad. Tapia the worst as he cant play a lick of defense. Now they are all gone thankfully.

      2
      Reply
  12. HalosHeavenJJ

    11 months ago

    Tapia intrigues me a little.

    The Angels had an absolute black hole in LF last year. Had something like 14 guys play there and add up to a couple of negative WAR. Adell, Duggar, Wade,

    Tapia’s slash line vs. righties is about league average, his glove is about league average. Just getting LF to league average would be huge here and the free agent market is thin.

    Not worth $5 million in Toronto but might be worth $3 million here.

    3
    Reply
    • KamKid

      11 months ago

      If Tapia had any defensive utility, he’d be a fine bench piece at a few million. But he’s pretty much a LF only as he’s not really a good enough outfielder for CF despite his speed and doesn’t have much arm at all. His best trait is that he makes a lot of contact but it’s pretty poor quality contact.

      2
      Reply
  13. jdgoat

    11 months ago

    Tapia is the definition of mid. Don’t really understand the shock over this. He obviously wasn’t surviving the offseason, especially at that price.

    8
    Reply
    • slimmycito

      11 months ago

      Agreed 100%

      Reply
  14. BlueJ’sAllDay

    11 months ago

    Does Adrian Hernandez not make the 40-man? Would hate the thought of them losing a future bullpen stud. Compared to a fringe outfielder like Luke’s to me Hernandez has way more value. Am I missing something here?

    1
    Reply
    • Justajaysfan

      11 months ago

      Agree 100%

      Reply
  15. kanye

    11 months ago

    I’m scratching my head

    Reply
    • Poster formerly known as . . .

      11 months ago

      I’ve heard that Selsun Blue helps with that.

      5
      Reply
  16. holecamels35

    11 months ago

    Arb kinda screws over guys like Tapia. He’s not worth upwards of 4M because he’s not really a starter, but he should still be on a team as a 4th outfielder. It’s just that it’s hard to pay a lot for something like that.

    1
    Reply
    • JoeBrady

      11 months ago

      They could always have settled if both sides agreed. You aren’t forced into arb.

      3
      Reply
  17. GMoney2850

    11 months ago

    Judging by the comments here and on Twitter, Tapia might be the single most overrated player in the league.

    1.3 career fWAR in 1858 PA. He sucks. EOS

    5
    Reply
    • Diggydugler

      11 months ago

      Lots of clueless people out there. Not that WAR is everything but he is an awful defender and also a bad hitter.

      3
      Reply
      • Mario93

        11 months ago

        Agree.. at least Zimmer offers elite defence. And is a great runner.

        Reply
  18. big tee

    11 months ago

    Tapia will find a job in like 13 seconds, Zimmer should head to Korea, get on those Thames enhancements and hit dingers lol

    1
    Reply
    • slimmycito

      11 months ago

      Big Zim Dog, as I sarcastically nicknamed him, couldn’t hit his way out of a wet paper bag. I don’t think even Korea can save him.

      Reply
  19. Old York

    11 months ago

    Clearing space for Nimmo and Judge.

    Reply
  20. TJT88

    11 months ago

    DFA’ing Tapia is a really foolish move. Someone will pick him up in days.

    Reply
    • Dustyslambchops23

      11 months ago

      Doubtful. He’s a 4th OF offensively and not great defensively.

      I’m sure he will find another job but not at his current salary

      2
      Reply
  21. Murphy NFLD

    11 months ago

    He will get 1-3 per and maybe 2-4 extra thru incentives

    Reply
  22. Dustyslambchops23

    11 months ago

    Bradley Zimmer was 2 wins away from a World Series ring, now he’s DFA’d. How the mighty have fallen

    1
    Reply
  23. Mario93

    11 months ago

    Glad the Blue Jays save money with Tapia.. I wasn’t a fan of the his game. Has speed but other then that doesn’t do much but get a hit here and there. Even in the outfield he was underwhelming.

    Reply
  24. Clepto is an incel

    11 months ago

    If Tapia can’t get a MLB offer he’ll thrive in the KBO

    Reply

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