The Blue Jays have returned Rule 5 pick Angel Bastardo to the Red Sox, according to announcements from both clubs. Toronto designated him for assignment a week ago when setting their Opening Day roster. This announcement indicates the other 28 clubs passed on grabbing Bastardo via waivers. The Sox do not need to put Bastardo on their 40-man roster.
Bastardo, 24 in June, was an international signing of the Red Sox out of Venezuela in 2018. He reached Double-A in 2023 and was still at that level in 2024 when he required Tommy John surgery. Since he was likely going to miss the 2025 season, the Sox left Bastardo off their roster in the fall of 2024, therefore leaving him exposed in the Rule 5 draft. The Blue Jays grabbed him in that draft and kept him on the injured list all throughout the 2025 season, hoping that Bastardo could perhaps earn a spot on their 2026 club.
Though he had already been on the roster for a whole year, a Rule 5 pick is still bound by the restrictions of that draft until he spends 90 days on the active roster. That meant the Jays would need to keep him in the big leagues for at least the first three months of the schedule.
Bastardo is now recovered from his surgery but showed some rust in camp. He faced 33 batters in spring training and walked seven of them, a 21.2% clip which is close to three times the regular season league average. He also threw four wild pitches in there. The Jays decided it couldn’t work and designated Bastardo for assignment. Another club could have grabbed him off waivers and absorbed the same Rule 5 situation but they all decided against it.
The Red Sox will now get to plug him back into their system, so Bastardo could be back at the Double-A level soon or perhaps get bumped up to Triple-A. It may have been strange for Bastardo to switch organizations for a year while rehabbing but he benefited by earning a year of big league pay and service time while on the IL in 2025.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Season saved!
Honestly, it’s a bad time for us Sox fans. The same pervasive issues that tormented the offense last year not only are still evident, they’re seemingly exacerbated. I’ve seen numerous “don’t panic – season isn’t over” denial articles recently. If you need to write those before April even shows it’s face – you’re in trouble.
Anyway, welcome back Angel!
Yes, I don’t think we’ve ever seen a slow start to the season in over 100 years of Red Sox baseball. Pink hat.
“pink hat” Love it!
There’s starting slow and then there’s whatever the hell they’ve been doing in Houston this week. Half these guys look like they’re playing baseball for the first time in their lives.
We can sit and talk about the front office and their roster construction philosophies all day long (which we do all winter), but this team is supposed to be good despite its flaws. It’s on Cora and the position coaches at this point to come out of the gate looking this horrible.
Do I still have hope they’ll get it together and be solid? Yes. But as insanely good as the AL East is this year, you CANNOT afford to spot everyone else a head start by wasting spring training and then coming out and needing two or three weeks into April to get your sea legs under you. The margin for error is way too thin to mess around like that.
The type of player Cora loves.
What does this even mean?
He needs Angels in his outfield?
Glad to have Angel back in the org. Could be a real power arm if he can rein in his control a bit. And costs nothing otherwise.
Just need to blend Paez and Bastardo into one singular entity lol
Split them and recombine into two min-maxed people:
Jedixon Bastardo: elite arm with power and control
Angel Paez: he answers the phone at his family’s business in Venezuela
That first name and that last name cancel each other out…
“Oops, just kidding… you really aren’t as good as we thought, you can go back now.”
I wonder what this is like for a player …
Didn’t he accrue more than a year of MLB service time and get paid accordingly? If so, he must have been absolutely thrilled about being picked last year and being kept into this one.
Gruß,
BSHH
So….. was he a Bastardo child while with Toronto?
Surprised you got away with this. I commented “another unwanted Bastardo” and got censored!
Ya gotta change your name to Judge Philip Banks.
Very original joke!
Red Sox are also getting Jedixon Paez back. Well done FO for not exposing any valuable prospects.
Rejected by his dad and two teams. Ouch.
The Blue Jays return Bastardo to the Red Sox yet they still have Brandon Little on their roster, makes alot of sense to me.
Or…. does it make Little sense to you?
He could go back to Venezuela and live an awesome life after getting a MLB years salary
As of 2024–2025, the average monthly salary in Venezuela varies significantly between sectors, with private sector employees often making between $50 and $200+, while public sector employees and minimum wage workers earn significantly less—often under $50, sometimes as low as $3.50 base pay, supplemented by bonuses.
can we get anything for a pitcher with a Little confidence problem and otherwise has good stuff? Asking for a country