The Blue Jays are among the teams with interest in free agent closer Raisel Iglesias, reports Francys Romero. That’s a logical fit with Toronto on the hunt for a late-game arm. They’ve also been linked to Edwin Díaz at the top of the relief market.
Iglesias remains one of the better relievers in MLB as he enters his age-36 season. The Cuban-born righty is coming off a 3.21 earned run average in 67 1/3 innings for the Braves. Iglesias went 29-34 in save chances, narrowly missing what would have been his sixth career 30-save campaign. Iglesias punched out an above-average 27.4% of opponents while limiting walks to a 6% clip. He got swinging strikes nearly 15% of the time while still getting opponents to frequently chase outside the strike zone.
In aggregate, this year was Iglesias’ worst since at least 2019. That’s mostly attributable to an early-season home run spike. He gave up seven longballs before the end of May and carried a near-6.00 ERA into June. Once he got the home runs in check, Iglesias looked like his usually excellent self. He turned in a 1.96 ERA with a 29.3% strikeout percentage over the final four months. Opponents hit .163/.224/.219 with one homer in their last 174 plate appearances.
Jays general manager Ross Atkins has already said they’re not committed to keeping Jeff Hoffman in the ninth inning. Signing a closer would allow manager John Schneider to use Hoffman as a multi-inning leverage arm earlier in games. Hoffman allowed the second-most home runs (15) among MLB relievers this year. The longball is the biggest concern with Iglesias as well but not to the same extent.
Iglesias’ age is going to cap him at a maximum of two years. He should command an eight-figure annual salary. The Braves didn’t find much trade interest with Iglesias making $16MM this past summer. He elevated his stock by allowing just one run in 23 2/3 frames after the deadline, so it’s not out of the question that he commands something similar to this year’s salary on the open market. That’d especially be true if he takes a one-year guarantee, though MLBTR predicted he’d command a two-year contract at $13MM annually.
The Dodgers are the only other team that has been publicly connected to Iglesias this offseason. The Braves don’t have an obvious closing replacement and will probably stay in touch, but president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said this week that they’re focused on shortstop and the rotation in the short term. If Iglesias receives strong two-year offers this month, he could sign elsewhere before the Braves are ready to pivot to the bullpen.
“Jays general manager Ross Atkins has already said they’re not committed to keeping Jeff Hoffman in the ninth inning.” The broken watch has spoken.
Two years seems right. My concern is a “ambitious” team will go 3.
Can we just save a whole lot if time and state that the Blue Jays have interest in everybody.
I’m having “internal discussions” about Giselle Bundchen even as we speak.
That’s always the case – BUT – We hope that he’s in a closing mood and signs someone early, so we don’t miss-out on everyone
To all the relievers they’ve loved before….
The rich teams are “interested” in everyone because it’s advantageous for players’ agents for teams to think the moneybags are interested in their guys. All these rumors come from agents.
The Jays aren’t just rich they were 1 game away from a championship. My guess is they are one of if not the most active teams in all of free agency.
They were one timely hit or fly ball from a championship.
There are at least 3 closers out there that should definitely get closer money, that continue to be linked to teams that don’t need one.
I’d bet serious money that this ain’t happening.
Raisel Eh-glasias
Too inconsistent. If the Jays want someone coming off a down year go after Devin Williams.
Iglesias is about as consistent as it gets
His career disagrees.
Probably among the most consistent closers in BB.
Not even close Joe. Not only has his career been questioned by great performance in low-pressure situations/teams, his homerun rate escalating is a problem. Add him to the AL East and you have a problem. I expected a little better pushback from you.
I’m not saying that he is clutch, or even good. Just that he’s consistent.
Between 2017-2025, he’s had between 28-34 saves.
Since 2019, a K/W of 4.24 or better.
And I’m not sure where you got your HR rate increase from. For is career, he’s at 1.01/9, and in 2025, he’s at 1.07. The difference is negligible..
His homer rate escalated the first month or so in 2025. When Atlanta left contention, Iglesias settled down. This was documented early in the season if you’d look it up.
If you are not saying he is clutch or even good, it tells me not only should the Jays pass, but not being good or clutch says he’s not consistent no matter what the numbers say. He’s great without pressure, and maybe closing for a 4th place team is where he’s comfortable. I’ll stand by what I said, and thank you for acknowledging the lack of clutchness on his part.
it tells me not only should the Jays pass,
===========================
Undoubtedly, imo, the Jays should pass.
But I fully expect him to be a closer elsewhere.
Jays, Yankees and Dodgers show interest in every player lol
Mets and Phillies too…
Too old and recently inconsistent. I wouldnt want to spend big money on him. I like williams more, depending on cost. Then again, im not really confident in most of the closers in free agency other than diaz.
He’s always struck me as one of those relievers who piles up a lot of low-pressure saves. He’s hardly overpowering. I’m not sure this is the direction for the Jays if they’re ultimately seeking to bolster the back end of their pen for October
Teams wish he’d sign for 2y/$26m
He had a horrible start, BUT was basically lights out after that. I would not mind if Atlanta resigned him at a slightly lower rate than his last contract, but I fully expect someone else will pay him what Atlanta won’t.
Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!
I would probably take a run at Kenley Jansen better. He’s motivated to get to 500 Saves and supposedly he’s already lost 18lb’s to get into better shape
Blue jays show interest…needs its own feed.
“The Blue Jays are among the teams with interest in free agent closer Raisel Iglesias”
But Toronto gets its own post?
Look I like mlbtr and have been a supporter for a long time but every offseason the jays are used as clickbait for no reason
The reason is that there are a lot of baseball fans in the Toronto area, and across Canada. You write about what your audience wants to read about. Plus the Jays have spent real money in recent years and showed they could assemble a heckuva team this year.
Dusty part of this has to do with connections with the Toronto media, particularly the ones that work for the very owners of the team. They’ll feed people the “Jays are interested in ______” narrative. They’re not lying about it. I believe a former MLBTR writer now covers the Jays for Sportsnet. I understand your point of view as it can be a bit of clickbait here. But I think info is being exchanged.
It just ends up with false expectations and makes it much harder to understand what’s real and what’s not.
Isn’t that part of the fun?
To be fair that is the definition of a rumor
I would be down for a one-year deal with the Jays. He seems to alternate between dominant seasons and average seasons. Next season he’s scheduled for a dominant one.
Gawd no get Diaz or Suarez stop messing around
If it doesn’t prevent them from bringing back Bo and getting a high-end starting pitcher, then sure. I guess it just depends on how much money they have to spend overall.
Just out of curiosity why Suarez over Iglesias? Over the last 3 years Iglesias has a higher strikeout per nine and a better ERA overall.
Iglesias ERA: 2.75, 1.95, and 3.2
K/9: 11.00, 8.8, and 9.8
Suarez ERA: 4.23, 2.77, and 2.97
K/9: 7.8, 8.7, and 9.8
I like Suarez’s stuff a little better, and I don’t feel Iglesias thrives under pressure. I might be wrong, it’s just my perspective. I would trust Suarez more than Raisel in high leverage.
Fair enough.
Bring back Brett Cecil
Not happening. Iglesias, Williams, Helsley, and probably Jansen, will all likely sign with teams that need a closer, and will pay closer money. And TO is not going to use some of their Bichette money to sign an RP to come in in the 7th inning, when they already have guys that can do that.
It sounds like they want to replace Hoffman as closer. Those guys would get a chance to close and they would have to pay closer money for them.
I don’t think signing any of them would prohibit them from bringing Bo back either.
They aren’t committed to Hoffman, but paid for him as such so I think it’s just talk. If they sign anyone with closer experience I think they take the approach of committee to start and see who sticks more. But there’s a lot of brand name closers who’ll want more of a commitment, and a lot more teams with more glaring openings. I think Iglesias is one. Rangers would be a good fit.
My view exactly. These guys are being attached to teams that already have closers. At a minimum, the LAD and NYM need a closer. Probably AZ, SF, LAA, maybe Cincy, Atl, Nats, etc., as well.
Teams with closers are not going to get into bidding wars just to improve their 7th inning guy.
Hadn’t seen Raisel’s baseball reference in a while, dude has passed the 250 save mark. That’s an impressive career.