Blue Jays Sign Mike Mayers To Minor League Deal

The Blue Jays announced that they have signed Mike Mayers to a minor league deal. The right-hander has also received an invite to major league Spring Training.

Mayers, 32, is coming off a rough couple of seasons. He signed a minor league deal with the Royals last year and was added to their big league roster to serve in a swing role, but posted an earned run average of 6.15 in 26 1/3 innings over six appearances. His 8.4% walk rate was fine but his 14.3% strikeout rate was well below average. He was outrighted off the roster in June and later traded to the White Sox, putting up poor numbers for the Triple-A affiliates of both clubs, finishing with a combined 6.12 ERA at that level.

With the Angels the year before, he tossed 50 2/3 innings with a 5.68 ERA. His 20.2% strikeout rate was better in that season but 20.8% of his fly balls allowed went over the fence, almost double his 12.1% rate from 2023.

The Jays will undoubtedly be hoping for Mayers to return to his 2020-21 form. Over those two seasons, he made 101 appearances for the Halos and logged 105 innings. He posted a 3.34 ERA in that time, striking out 30.5% of opponents while walking just 8%. He moved up the bullpen chart for the Angels in that time, earning four saves and 22 holds.

Per the data at Statcast, his velocity ticked down as his results went south. His fastball velo was above 94 miles per hour in 2020 and 2021 but dropped to 93.5 mph in 2022 and 92.9 mph last year. His slider, cutter and changeup also lost a tick or two over the past two seasons, while his curveball went up slightly in 2022 before dropping in 2023.

Mayers has recently been getting some work in with Driveline Baseball, as they tweeted out some footage of him throwing, as relayed by Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. It seems the Jays were intrigued enough by his recent form to bring him into camp.

That may have been at least partially motivated by some recent developments to players on their roster. Per Matheson, righties Jordan Romano and Erik Swanson are dealing with arm issues, right elbow inflammation for the former and forearm tightness for the latter. Each player underwent an MRI without finding any structural issues, but the club may be precautious with them in the meantime.

If either or both of those guys miss time, the club will have to rely on its depth. Mayers will now jump into that mix and try to earn his way onto the roster. If he does so, he is out of options but he has just under five years of service time. That means the Jays could retain him for 2025 via arbitration if he earns a roster spot and things go especially well this year.