The Blue Jays announced a series of roster moves this morning. Right-handers Nick Sandlin, Bowden Francis, Yimi Garcia, and Angel Bastardo were all activated from the 60-day injured list. Meanwhile, the Jays outrighted right-handers Dillon Tate, Robinson Pina, and Ryan Burr off their 40-man roster. Tate and Burr both elected free agency, while Pina will qualify for minor league free agency this evening as a player with seven years of experience. Additionally, Toronto has selected the contract of catcher Brandon Valenzuela.
Pina, 27 later this month, made his big league debut earlier this year as a member of the Marlins. His time in Miami lasted just one appearance, as he surrendered a solo home run but allowed no other traffic in his lone inning of work before being designated for assignment. Pina was traded to the Blue Jays just a couple of days later in exchange for minor league hurler Colby Martin, but once again made only one appearance for Toronto in 2025 with a 6.75 ERA in 1 1/3 innings of work. Despite his struggles in the majors in an extremely small sample, Pina did pitch to a respectable 3.58 ERA in 65 1/3 innings of work at Triple-A between his two organizations this year.
Tate, 31, spent most of the year at the Triple-A level. In 39.1 innings there, he pitched to a 2.06 ERA while getting ground balls at a 48.1% rate. He did walk 12.0% of opposing hitters though, and his 4.55 xFIP in the minors suggests that he benefited from good luck. Tate only made it into six big-league games for the Blue Jays in 2025, allowing three earned runs in 6 1/3 innings while striking out eight. His overall body of work is solid and includes a 3.05 ERA with just a 5.5% walk rate as recently as 2022 with the Orioles. He’ll get looks from other organizations as a depth piece.
Burr, 31, underwent season-ending surgery in July to repair a capsule injury in his right shoulder and was therefore seen as a non-tender candidate. He also missed time earlier in the year with shoulder inflammation, which led to him making just two appearances at the big-league level. In 32 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays in 2024, Burr had a middling 4.13 ERA but struck out 33.6% of hitters while walking 8.6% and posting strong peripherals. He’ll find opportunities elsewhere if and when he is recovered from his surgery.
Turning now to the IL activations, these are largely procedural moves. Teams place players on the 60-day IL during the regular season to free up a spot on the 40-man roster. However, they must be added back during the offseason. Sandlin had been out with right elbow inflammation since early July, while Francis went down in June with a right shoulder impingement. Garcia underwent season-ending elbow surgery in August and is expected to be ready for spring training. Bastardo missed the year while recovering from Tommy John surgery. All four are controlled through at least 2026.
As for Valenzuela, the 25-year-old catcher was rated as a top-30 prospect for the Padres in 2024 before being traded to Toronto this past July. He batted a roughly average .229/.313/.387 in 87 games at Double-A but struggled with Toronto’s Triple-A team, with just a 76 wRC+ and a 30.5% strikeout rate in 105 plate appearances. Toronto, of course, has Alejandro Kirk entrenched as their starting catcher, so Valenzuela is likely a depth option behind him and Tyler Heineman.
Valenzuela would have been eligible for minor league free agency as a seven-year minor leaguer if he weren’t added to the 40-man roster. Toronto evidently didn’t want to let him get away for nothing. He still has a full slate of minor league options and can spend the next few seasons in Triple-A, but he’s the clear #3 catcher on the depth chart at the moment.
Of all of these transactions, Pina is the one that warranted his own paragraph?
More to come.
Yeah. I see that. Maybe it’s just the easiest to write. But it’s far less interesting than Valenzuela being added or Bastardo who still has the rule V rules that apply. Or even Francis who stayed on the IL until the end of the year and so still has an option remaining for next season.
Gotta get it in there first,then follow up.
Fair. I don’t get the need to trickle an article out. I think you can write and proofread/edit a full article before publishing. But maybe I’m just slow to embrace the value of being first in digital media.
Jays need to offload Little
Why does every teams fan base hate a lefty RP on each team? It’s pretty hard to find
Just need to not run him out in every high leverage situation. He’s a fine pitcher and inexpensive.
Even his terrible second half where he wasn’t keeping up the elite K rates saw him produce a 63.5% ground ball rate. He walks too many guys but he doesn’t give up big damage. Mostly singles through infield holes.
Beyond the fact that the total of his season was good and his stuff still grades as great to elite, he’s still pre-arb with options remaining. If he needs to make adjustments and he’s not able to do it in the majors, he can go to AAA for a tune up.
60-70 innings? How many RP even do that nowadays?
lol you missed my point! lol is a rare occurrence that a RP nowadays 70 innings lol. Surely only a team best RP would get 70 innings lol.
Good news for Jays’ fans that: Nick Sandlin, Bowen Francis, Yimi Garcia, and Angel Bastardo have all recovered and healed from their respective injuries to a point at which they have been moved back onto the team’s 40 man roster and as such are healthy enough to resume baseball activities.
Well they have to reinstate them by roster rules. Not sure this says a lot about their current health although it seems all should be ready for ST.
This move has nothing to do with their health, which is clearly stated in the post….