Blue Jays DFA Leo Jimenez; Rule 5 Pick Spencer Miles To Break Camp
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.
Blue Jays Acquire Chase Lee
The Tigers have traded right-hander Chase Lee to the Blue Jays in exchange for minor league lefty Johan Simon, according to announcements from both clubs. This move is likely to open a 40-man spot for the Tigers to make their signing of Kyle Finnegan official. The Jays had a 40-man vacancy but Lee takes up the final spot. Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic first reported that Lee was headed to the Jays while Mitch Bannon of The Athletic first mentioned Simon as the return.
Lee, 27, doesn’t throw especially hard but is able to deceive batters with his sidearm delivery. Originally a draft pick of the Rangers, he was traded to the Tigers as part of the 2024 deadline deal which sent Andrew Chafin the other way.
In 204 2/3 minor league innings, Lee has allowed 4.13 earned runs pere nine, with a fairly average 8% walk rate but a strong 30.9% strikeout rate. The Tigers called him up to make his major league debut in 2025. He gave them 37 1/3 innings with a 4.10 ERA. His four-seam fastball only averaged 89.2 miles per hour while he also threw a sinker, slider and changeup. He struck out 24.3% of opponents while limiting walks to a 6.1% clip.
For the Jays, Lee adds some extra bullpen depth. He still has options and can therefore be sent to Triple-A Buffalo and back throughout the year. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet recently wrote a piece about how the Jays appear to be prioritizing different arm angles, so it’s possible they are particularly attracted to Lee’s sidearming abilities. He has less than a year of service time and is therefore years away from qualifying for arbitration and even further from free agency. If he’s able to carve out a meaningful role in the big leagues, he could be a long-term piece for the Jays.
To get Lee, the Jays are giving up Simon, an international signing out of the Dominican Republic. In 2025, he began at Single-A and then climbed to High-A and Double-A. Across those three levels, he tossed 71 relief innings with a 3.42 ERA, 25.1% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate and a massive 64% ground ball rate.
For the Tigers, they had a 40-man roster crunch and needed to lose someone. With this deal, they’ve lost a bit of immediate depth but replaced Lee with a non-roster arm who is only slightly farther away from the majors.
Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images
Tigers Place Casey Mize On 15-Day Injured List
The Tigers announced right-hander Casey Mize is being placed on the 15-day injured list due to a strained left hamstring. Right-hander Chase Lee is being recalled from Triple-A Toledo to replace Mize on the roster. As noted by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters that the strain was “very mild.” Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic adds that the issue initially cropped up during his last start against the Rockies, but that it was initially believed to be dehydration.
Given the mild nature of the issue, it’s reasonable to think that a reasonably quick recovery could be on the table for Mize. With that said, Petzold points out that Mize has had issues with his left hamstring before and ultimately ended up missing two months due to the issue last season. Given that previous injury history, it would hardly be a surprise if the Tigers ended up being cautious with Mize’s hamstring. He’ll miss at least the next two weeks due to the issue in any case, but even mild hamstring strains can leave pitchers away from the big league mound for a month or longer.
Losing a pitcher from the starting rotation is always worrisome, but it’s especially disappointing for Mize and the Tigers given the former first-overall pick’s strong start to the 2025 campaign. After throwing just 112 1/3 innings from 2022 to 2024 due to a number of injuries and struggling to a middling 4.57 ERA even when healthy enough to pitch, Mize entered the 2025 season without any assurances of a starting role. He managed to make the club’s Opening Day rotation despite that, however, and has looked excellent in seven starts this year with a sparkling 2.53 ERA across 42 2/3 innings of work. That level of dominance isn’t quite supported by the advanced metrics, as Mize is striking out just 21.0% of his opponents with a 3.93 FIP and 3.81 SIERA, but even those less impressive numbers would be a big step forward for the right-hander if carried forward across a full season.
Now that Mize’s attempts to put together a quality season in the middle of the Tigers rotation are on hold for the time being, Detroit will need to find a way to replace his production in the rotation. Mize was next slated to start for the Tigers on May 13, so a decision won’t be necessary for another few days. Right-hander Alex Cobb threw a live, two-inning bullpen session yesterday that lasted 30 pitches, but isn’t expected to be ready to return from hip inflammation until later this month. Matt Manning and Keider Montero are both on the 40-man roster with starting experience in the majors; Montero’s last start was the same day as Mize’s start against Colorado, while Manning’s came the day prior. That means either righty would be on full rest and able to take the ball if necessary. If the Tigers don’t want to turn to either Montero or Manning as a starter, they’ll likely be left forced to go with a bullpen game against the Red Sox this week.
Fortunately for the Tigers, they’ve gotten generally strong production from the rest of their rotation this year that should help them weather the loss of Mize. Tarik Skubal looks every bit like the reigning AL Cy Young award winner after winning the pitching triple crown last year, Reese Olson has built on an excellent 2024 season with strong numbers again this year, and Jack Flaherty has looked solid even if he isn’t quite as dominant now as he was in his first stint in a Tigers uniform last year. The only slot in the rotation that’s currently providing the club below-average production is that of top prospect Jackson Jobe, but even he had a solid 3.38 ERA before he was torched for six runs in 3 2/3 innings at Coors Field during his last start. As for Lee, the 26-year-old righty made his big league debut with Detroit earlier this year and pitched to a 1.42 ERA in six appearances with six strikeouts against three walks.
Tigers Promote Chase Lee For MLB Debut
The Tigers announced that right-hander Chase Lee has been recalled to the major league roster. He was already on the 40-man but is still looking for his major league debut. Righty Keider Montero was optioned as the corresponding move.
Lee, 26, was a sixth-round pick of the Rangers in 2021. He was flipped to the Tigers as part of the deal sending lefty Andrew Chafin to Texas in July of last year. The Tigers added him to their 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
He isn’t a power arm but throws hitters off with his sidewinding delivery, which allows him to succeed even though his fastball tops out around 90 miles per hour. Overall, he has 182 minor league innings on his track record thus far with a 3.86 earned run average. He has struck out 31.4% of opponents while issuing walks at a reasonable 8.1% clip and getting grounders on roughly half the balls in play he’s allowed.
The Tigers had recently recalled Montero to make a couple of spot starts, thus giving the other members of their rotation a breather. Brenan Hanifee had been optioned out, leaving the club with a slightly shorter bullpen for a few days. (Hanifee was later recalled when Beau Brieske landed on the IL.) Lee’s recall will get things back to the standard five/eight ratio of starters to relievers.
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
Tigers Designate Three Players For Assignment
The Tigers designated infielder Eddys Leonard and relievers Ricky Vanasco and Brendan White for assignment. Their spots on the 40-man roster will go to righties Chase Lee, Tyler Mattison and Tyler Owens. Detroit kept that trio out of next month’s Rule 5 draft.
Leonard has held a spot on Detroit’s 40-man roster since they acquired him in a minor trade with the Dodgers in August 2023. The 24-year-old infielder hit .253/.320/.435 between three minor league levels this year. He hasn’t appeared in the majors. Vanasco also landed in Detroit via a small trade with Los Angeles — this one coming this past July. He pitched two scoreless innings at the major league level and has four career appearances. White, who turned 26 yesterday, pitched to a 5.03 ERA across 40 2/3 innings as a rookie in 2023. He spent most of this season on the minor league injured list.
The three players joining the roster are all upper level bullpen arms. Lee, an Alabama product, came over from the Rangers at this year’s deadline in the Andrew Chafin trade. The 26-year-old righty turned in a 2.75 ERA across 36 innings between the two organizations. He punched out 30% of batters faced with a tidy 6.8% walk rate.
Mattison, a 6’4″ pitcher out of Bryant, posted excellent strikeout numbers this year. He fanned nearly 38% of hitters en route to a 2.41 ERA across 59 2/3 innings between High-A West Michigan and Double-A Erie. While the 25-year-old was a bit more advanced than most hitters he faced, he pitched well enough that another team could’ve tried to stash him in the middle innings.
Owens, 24 in January, has been traded twice since entering pro ball as a 13th-round pick in 2021. Originally an Atlanta draftee, he went to the Rangers last offseason for outfielder J.P. Martínez. Texas dealt him to Detroit as part of the Carson Kelly deadline deal. The 5’10” hurler put up a 2.96 ERA while striking out just over a quarter of opponents in Double-A this year.