The Blue Jays are in agreement on a minor league contract with first baseman/outfielder Juan Yepez, per Aram Leighton and Eric Treuden of Just Baseball. He’ll presumably be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee later this month.
Yepez, 27, has appeared in parts of three big league seasons with the Cardinals and Nationals — most recently with Washington in 2024. He’s a .258/.307/.423 hitter (103 wRC+) in 588 plate appearances as a major leaguer. The righty-swinging Yepez has fairly neutral platoon splits in his MLB time and carries a 6.5% walk rate against a 20.9% strikeout rate.
The 2025 season was a struggle for Yepez. He didn’t appear in the majors and struggled badly in Triple-A while also spending nearly two months of the season on the minor league injured list. He appeared in 75 minor league games overall (62 in Triple-A, plus 13 rehab games in High-A) and posted a combined .220/.292/.358 batting line in 284 turns at the plate.
It was a year to forget, but Yepez has a track record as a well above-average hitter in Triple-A and a solid, roughly league-average producer in about one season’s worth of plate appearances. He has below-average speed (31st percentile in 2024, per Statcast) and doesn’t bring much defensive value to the table, with poor marks from Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average at first base and in both outfield corners.
Yepez joins the Blue Jays just one day after they revealed outfielder/designated hitter Anthony Santander will miss five-plus months due to shoulder surgery. With Santander sidelined, the Jays will likely go with Nathan Lukes, Daulton Varsho and Addison Barger in the outfield, with George Springer mixing in occasionally but spending most of his time at designated hitter.
Yepez joins the mix for a bench spot behind that group, though there’s not much space for a non-roster player to force his way in. Tyler Heineman will take one spot as the backup catcher, while speedster Myles Straw is in line for backup outfield work. Infielder Leo Jimenez is out of minor league options and is the primary backup to Andres Gimenez at shortstop (though second baseman Ernie Clement can certainly handle shortstop as well). Infielder/outfielder Davis Schneider has minor league options left, as do outfielders Joey Loperfido and Jonatan Clase. Yepez will try to leapfrog Schneider, Loperfido and Clase for the final bench spot, but there’s a good chance he simply heads to Triple-A Buffalo to serve as depth in the upper minors.
Yepez!
Remember when Pujols said this guy was gonna be the next him?
Let’s not forget The Jays have Eloy Jimenez who is mutitling the ball in the winter league
.246/.324/.426 in winter league doesn’t exactly jump off the page for me, regardless of what unspeakable things he may do to baseballs with a knife while he sits on the bench between at bats.
More like he be mutitling the orange. Young man looking fit!
Jays looking in the sales discount bins again.
So? The roster is set for the most part. These are the kind of signings needed when the inevitable injury hits.
@bestone
There are 3 possible for outcomes for a MiLB signing.
1. The player is lousy so they cut him loose. This essentially amounts to a rounding error in payroll.
2. The player is meh. All teams are required to field a team at all levels in the minors.
3. The players performance shows promise to be called up to the majors. Major League performance at a pittance of the usual cost.
That’s why the expression, “There is no such thing as a bad MiLB deal.” exists.
I understand….
At this level, all players know the game What is unknown are the factors that reduce the success that a player has had. Sometimes it’s chemistry between coaches and players that create excellence on field. Let’s hope that there’s some spark left in the cleats.
Every team has fan(s) who those exact same words. As a Cardinal’s fan on read the same words on certain StL. comments. I think every team shops in the baseball discount bin. Save money and hope for a “hit”.
How dare they disrespect the fans by cheaping out with a mere $310M payroll. They’re tanking on purpose!
Good K/BB ratio. The Jays are always interested in that.
Could be worse, they could have been stuck with Santander in the lineup.
Does that photo look like a golf swing?
Signing Yepez reminded me of a MiLB free agent that is unsigned, Yonathan Perlaza. He didnt light it up in Venezualan Winter League but he did show good plate discipline, nearly a 15% walk rate with a 10% K rate and the power is there.
He is ranked high at Fangraphs on the MiLB power rankings. Unsure why he is ranked so highly but I watched his highlights on Youtube, he is built like a tank and hits bombs from the left-hand side. Has bigtime power. Switch-hitter, reminds me some of Sammy Sosa from the right-hand side.
Santander solved the what do with Barger problem for the first half of the season. That contract may never tread water.
Yepez is interesting but not likely to make the team.
Nopez