3:05pm: The Jays have officially announced their roster, with both Jiménez and Bastardo designated for assignment.
1:04pm: The Blue Jays are designating infielder Leo Jiménez for assignment, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. He’s out of options and evidently did not win the final spot on Toronto’s bench, which is likely to go to Davis Schneider.
Toronto will carry Rule 5 pick Spencer Miles on the Opening Day roster, reports Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. He won the final spot in the middle relief group, which had seemingly been down to him and sidewinding righty Chase Lee. The Jays announced over the weekend that they would not carry their other Rule 5 selection Angel Bastardo, who’ll therefore be designated for assignment this afternoon if he’s not already on waivers.
Jiménez will probably land with another organization, as it seems likely he’ll attract trade or waiver interest. The Panama native has spent eight seasons in the Toronto system. His bat-to-ball skills and ability to play either middle infield position made him one of the organization’s better prospects. Jiménez has been a good minor league player but hasn’t hit in a limited look at the big league level.
Toronto gave the righty-hitting Jiménez 210 plate appearances as a rookie two seasons ago. He hit .229/.329/.358 while striking out in 28% of his trips. A deeper Jays infield and a handful of injuries kept Jiménez to 18 big league games last season. He didn’t play much in Triple-A either but hit .271/.416/.431 with nearly as many walks as strikeouts at that level in 2024.
Myles Straw, Nathan Lukes and backup catcher Tyler Heineman were locked into bench spots. The Jays were left to decide whether to carry Jiménez because he can play shortstop and couldn’t be optioned, or to turn to a more proven right-handed power bat in Schneider. They’re opting for the latter. Ernie Clement can slide to shortstop with Schneider at second base when Andrés Giménez needs a rest day. The Jays have five days to see if they can flip Jiménez for a marginal prospect return. They’d otherwise need to place him on waivers.
Miles was the final borderline Rule 5 decision around the league. The 25-year-old righty has barely pitched since being drafted by the Giants in the fourth round in 2022. A back injury preceded a Tommy John procedure that has kept him to a grand total of 14 2/3 minor league innings. The Giants left him off their 40-man roster, doubtful that another club would be willing to carry him on the MLB roster with such little professional experience.
It’s particularly surprising that an all-in Toronto team is taking that flier. That speaks to how strongly they feel about the caliber of his stuff, as they’re not in position to burn a bullpen spot on a pure development flier. Miles struck out 11 hitters over 9 2/3 innings this spring, allowing four runs on 11 hits and five walks. Baseball America credits him with a mid-90s fastball and plus curveball and ranked him the #22 prospect in the Jays’ system over the offseason.
Breaking camp certainly doesn’t guarantee that Miles will spend the entire season on the roster. He’ll need to pitch well enough to hold an MLB job. The Jays would otherwise need to run him through waivers and offer him back to San Francisco.
Bastardo was a Rule 5 pick out of the Boston organization in 2024. He was recovering from Tommy John surgery and spent the entire ’25 season on the injured list. Teams need to carry a Rule 5 pick on the active roster for at least 90 days as soon as they’re healthy if they miss their entire first season due to injury. The Jays were never going to carry two Rule 5 draftees in the bullpen.
The 23-year-old Bastardo has far more minor league experience than Miles, but he showed signs of rust this spring. He walked seven batters and uncorked four wild pitches in 7 2/3 innings. He’ll go on waivers and will be offered back to the Red Sox if he clears. The selection still worked to the righty’s benefit financially, as he was paid the $760K major league minimum salary for his time on the injured list.
Leo needs new shoes!
Confusing with so many Jiminez’s…. better to just release one
Incredibly stupid baseball decision to keep the very below average Schneider in order to lose Jiménez to another team. It cost them nothing to keep Jiménez and use one of Schneider’s options. Every time Schneider is in the starting lineup, the Jays are telling the world “we don’t want to win”.
this is a bad take
Leo can and will be traded for a better opportunity
wish him well!
What you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
@naylor01
I’ll take business ethics for the next topic
We didn’t listen to it, we read it.
Some of us read out loud
suck it, Trebek
There referencing Billy Madison not SNL jeopardy
Was just on last night- got thru 6th grade before having to turn in last night. Lotsa parties
Ah shoot you’re right….. Same energy tho! now i want to see that movie again
as out of place as it was, I still laughed out loud
external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%…
Davis had a 119 ops+ last year.
That OPS+ be fat like yo mama
Yo mama so fat, her high school senior picture was an aerial photograph.
His offensive numbers across the board are just fine for how he will be used and makes much more sense than Leo on this team who doesn’t hit a lot and doesn’t play any better defence than Clement or Andres.
Heh? A 1.3 WAR, 120 OPS+ in 80 odd games is actually EXCELLENT for a depth guy.
Monty Burns is that you
This is going to be Otto Lopez 2.0
Good depth means you lose the odd good player. For every Ernie Clement there’s a Otto Lopez
Except the Jays kept Espinal and Schenider over Lopez
Nope. Good luck Leo, but I just don’t see that happening.
Otto Parts????
Intrigued by the Red Sox potentially/probably getting Angel Bastardo back. Who knows how the injury recovery will go but he could be a good depth arm, maybe an option for a bullpen role down the stretch.
The emergence of John Kasevich made the decision much easier. He had a much better Spring than Jimenez and has options remaining. He’s also a very smooth shortstop.
I guess this means they actually believe Schneider can play 2B? It hasn’t seemed like it, but maybe he’s done something to change their minds on that. Given that Schneider is likely to start in LF against lefties, it also means they have a lot of confidence that Gimenez will fare better against lefties this year. It’s a thin depth chart in the middle infield. The starters are great gloves but offer very little with the bat. Kasevich had a nice spring but hadn’t been good at all in AAA or the AFL and was not added to the 40 man in his rule V year. are they so sure about him? After that, it’s???
Weird roster construction. 4 left handed hitting OFs seems odd.
Yeah, roster construction is really poor. 4 infielders and 7 outfielders
With Bo missing as much time as he did last year, with effectively the same group who did it without him is what they are rolling with again, albeit adding the Japanese slugger which hopefully helps as much as they need him to.
4 infielders:
Vlad, Clement, Gimenez, Okomoto
5 outfielders:
Lukes, Varsho, Sanchez, Straw, Springer (sort of)
2 guys that can play both:
Barger, Schneider
That’s now how the Club communicates it though. And sorry, but you don’t want either of those guys in the infield for any extended time.
@KamKid
Schneider went through the minors playing the IF. I think it’s just as likely he plays 2B (Clement to SS) when they’re facing a lefty. Ya, 4LHH OF’s is weird.
Who plays LF when they’re facing a lefty then? Sanchez is awful against lefties. I feel like Schneider is really important to the OF against lefties. Unless they go with Straw and Varsho at the same time. I just don’t quite understand why they took on the money for Sanchez as well as the 95% tax plus gave up a guy who is currently appearing as the number 5 hitter on a hopeful contender’s projected starting lineup and then couldn’t commit to him playing regularly against righties. They made that investment to share the strong side of a platoon role. They don’t like either guy enough to even be the sure strong side of a platoon? It’s not a very flexible roster.
I know Schneider has played 2B in the past but they’ve not been eager to trust him there.
@KamKid
The fact of the matter is that both suck against lefties. I could put up the numbers but when they’re both under water that much the difference is drowning in a kiddie pool or drowning in the ocean.
Both Straw and Lukes are better hitters against lefties and can play above average defense to take over in left. Schneider is the only bench guy that can play the IF and hit better.
Gimenez couldn’t hit either handed pitchers last year, his splits were way too small a sample to be relevant due to injuries, and his career splits are very similar against each hand. I can see no reason to sit him against lefties if he were in there for his bat, but he’s not, he’s in there almost purely for his glove so his splits are kinda academic anyway.
@smuzqwpdmx
Over the past 2 seasons against LHP he has a 56 wRC+ in about 260 PA’s. The fact is since his best season his bat has been steadily declining. Not a blip, a trend. Good glove or not, a player with that offensive production is going to sit or get pinch hit for.
Having Lee up at some point will be interesting. 3 Mark Eichorn’s in the pen
“It’s particularly surprising that an all-in Toronto team is taking that flier.”
Jays have 4 pitchers who are guaranteed roster spots on the IL to start so the rule 5 kid will get every chance now and isnt really that surprising nor a huge risk. And, with Jedi Pete Walker helping a guy like Yesavage last year, maybe he can work his magic on this rule 5 guy with no experience.
Walker likely had little to do with Yesavage as he made his way up the ladder.
Its likely that Miles gets “injured” a few times with the goal of getting him to 90 days. Maybe 21 days or so until one of the SP is ready, then injured, then back on the active roster when someone else is injured. It will be tough to get him to 90 though.
If Jimenez (0.69) was going to make the decision harder he had to out hit Schneider (.139) and couldn’t. Both Kasevich and Schneider have options so it was easier to DFA Jimenez since he no longer had any. With a strong Kasevich spring he basically replaced Jimenez for depth
Question for the Jays 2026 season ; when will Santander get into games? And, what will be like when he does
* off topic *
How about lottery numbers too? Do you want those? I forgot he was on our team by the time he emerged just to disappear. I wonder if he’ll break into glass again. Year two will be another wipe out as he’ll need six months after surgery plus lead up time. Then he can hit dribblers to right
I can see for Miles and Miles
Got to be a record how many rule 5 picks makin teams this yeR