Blue Jays To Activate Trey Yesavage On Tuesday
Trey Yesavage is ready for his 2026 debut, as the rookie right-hander will be activated from the 15-day injured list prior to Tuesday’s game with the Red Sox. Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters (including MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson) that Dylan Cease, Yesavage, and Max Scherzer will start during the three-game series against Boston. Cease and Patrick Corbin will swap places in the rotation so Corbin will now face the Guardians on Sunday, and Eric Lauer will be moved from a starting role into a long relief role.
Yesavage had never thrown a professional pitch prior to 2025, and his quick path from A-ball to the Blue Jays’ World Series rotation was one of the key storylines of Toronto’s postseason run. After debuting in September with a 3.21 ERA over his first 14 big league innings, Yesavage then had a 3.58 ERA over six games and 27 2/3 frames in the playoffs, highlighted by an epic seven-inning, 12-strikeout performance against the Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series.
Between the minors, the majors, and the postseason, Yesavage threw a total of 139 2/3 innings in 2025 — a marked increase from the 98 innings Yesavage threw for East Carolina University in 2024 before Toronto made him the 20th overall pick of the 2024 draft. As such, there was already a sense that the Blue Jays would look to limit Yesavage’s innings in 2026 in order to keep the righty from overextending himself, though an immediate hurdle arose when Yesavage arrived at Spring Training with a shoulder impingement.
The Jays took it slow with Yesavage’s workload in camp, and then placed him on the 15-day IL to begin the season so the right-hander could continue to ramp up at his own pace. Yesavage has made four minor league rehab starts, and his most recent outing with Triple-A Buffalo on April 21 saw him toss only 64 pitches, in a step backwards from the 71 pitches he threw in his previous start. Yesavage also has a 7.50 ERA and a 12.5% walk rate across his 12 rehab innings, though on-field results are less important than feel and comfort during a rehab assignment.
As Matheson noted, Yesavage “typically landed more in the range of 65 to 85 pitches” per outing in 2025, and the Blue Jays will probably keep him on something of a similar leash this year. The goal is to keep Yesavage fully past any lingering after-effects of his shoulder problem, and also to keep him fresh for what the Jays hope will be another deep run into October.
For the moment, however, simply getting back to the .500 mark is the first order of business for the 10-15 Blue Jays. Yesavage is one of seven pitchers and 12 players overall on Toronto’s injured list, as a swath of health problems big and small have caused the Jays to stumble out of the gate this season. For the rotation in particular, the absences of Yesavage, Shane Bieber, Jose Berrios, and (to a season-ending ACL tear) Cody Ponce has left the Jays scrambling for pitching despite what seemed to be a surplus of starters in March.
Cease and Kevin Gausman have both been very good, and Patrick Corbin (signed to a one-year, $1MM deal as a response to all the injuries) has managed a respectable 3.86 ERA over three starts and 14 2/3 innings. Scherzer and Lauer have each been hit hard, which is also part of reason for Lauer’s shift back to relief work.
Lauer has been public about his desire to work both as a starter and not work behind an opener when starting, though his 6.75 ERA over 22 2/3 innings has left the southpaw with little room to contest a role change. In regards to Lauer’s comments, Schneider said “he’s still going to pitch meaningful innings for us. Our rotation has been and maybe will continue to be in flux. He was playing catch-up, I think. After his first outing, his stuff was down and there were some delivery things. Just talking to him yesterday, there’s still an opportunity to work on those things.”
Having Lauer work multiple innings out of the bullpen could help him get on track, and should also help relieve some of the pressure on the Blue Jays’ overtaxed relief corps. The 113 1/3 innings pitched by Toronto’s relievers is the fifth-highest total of any bullpen in the league, while the rotation’s 109 1/3 innings are the third-fewest in baseball.
Blue Jays Select Yohendrick Pinango, Place Nathan Lukes On 10-Day Injured List
The Blue Jays announced that outfielder Nathan Lukes has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain. Taking Lukes’ place on the active roster is outfield prospect Yohendrick Pinango, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Buffalo. Right-hander Yimi Garcia was moved from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL in order to create space for Pinango on Toronto’s 40-man roster. Prior to the Jays’ official announcement, the Ander Beisbol X account was the first to report that Pinango was on his way to the Show for his first taste of MLB action.
Friday’s 8-6 Jays loss to the Guardians saw Lukes lead off the bottom of the first with a double, but the right fielder then had to be replaced by pinch-runner Davis Schneider due to the hamstring issue. Blue Jays manager John Schneider is expected to update reporters today on the outcome of Lukes’ MRI, though obviously the problem was immediately serious enough to warrant an IL placement.
George Springer (toe fracture) and Addison Barger (ankle sprain) are making progress in their recoveries and could be activated from the 10-day IL within a week’s time. That said, Lukes is now the 12th player on Toronto’s current injured list, adding to what has been a snakebitten start to the Blue Jays’ defense of their American League title.
Lukes in particular has had a tough go of things, as the outfielder has spent much of the season plagued by vertigo symptoms. A visit to a specialist in Phoenix during the Jays’ recent series with the Diamondbacks seemed to solve things — Lukes had just two hits over his first 34 trips to the plate before the Arizona series, but then posted a 1.260 OPS over his next 22 PA, going 11-for-21 with four doubles.
The hamstring strain both interrupts this hot streak for Lukes, and creates another vacancy in Toronto’s outfield. The Jays have already had to dig pretty deep into their depth chart to address their many injuries on the pitching and position-player sides, and the situation has now created an opportunity for Pinango (who turns 24 next month) to make his big league debut.
Pinango began his career as a Cubs international signing in 2018, and he was dealt to the Jays along with minor league infielder Josh Rivera in the 2024 deadline trade that saw Nate Pearson sent to Wrigleyville. Pinango hit .235/.335/.379 over his first 340 Triple-A plate appearances in 2025, and he has jumped out to a .288/.370/.488 slash line and three homers over 92 PA for Buffalo this season.
MLB Pipeline ranks Pinango as the 10th-best prospect in the Blue Jays’ farm system, with Baseball America slotting him 11th on their list. His lack of defensive value hurts his ceiling, as Pinango is seen as a below-average corner outfielder at best who is probably best suited for a DH spot. That puts more pressure on his bat, and his ability to consistently get the ball into the air. When he is able to keep the ball off the ground, Pinango has displayed intriguing raw power to go along with his solid contact skills and excellent bat speed.
While Pinango lacks Lukes’ defensive upside, he’ll fill in as a left-handed option in Toronto’s outfield mix. Pinango joins Jesus Sanchez as the left-handed hitting corner outfielders, with Davis Schneider and Myles Straw providing right-handed complements.
Garcia underwent surgery last September to fix scar tissue in his throwing elbow, and the Jays were slowplaying his ramp-up period throughout Spring Training and in the early part of the 2026 season. The shift to the 60-man now delays Garcia’s 2026 debut until the last week of May, which doesn’t alter his planned timeline. Garcia has been facing live batters in the latest step in his throwing progression, and the reliever may not be far away from a minor league rehab assignment.
Blue Jays Remove Hoffman From Closer Role
The defending 2025 AL Champions, mired in a 10-15 start, are shaking up their bullpen. After three blown saves and an early yank against the Angels on April 21st, the Blue Jays (as covered by Keegan Matheson of MLB.com) announced that Jeff Hoffman is out as closer while the team transitions to a closer-by-committee approach. Righties Louis Varland, Tyler Rogers, and Braydon Fisher should be in play for save opportunities. However, Matheson mentions that Varland’s fireman role in the bullpen may preclude him from the ninth in some games.
It’s perhaps an unsurprising development given his early-season performance: an unsightly 7.59 ERA in 10 2/3 innings is hard to stomach from a high-leverage reliever, even for a small sample size. His 6 unintentional walks, 2 HBPs, and a wild pitch underscore his challenge to command the zone and prevent baserunners. However, Hoffman’s stuff remains filthy. His 41.2% strikeout rate is elite. Due to the nature of small sample sizes, relievers’ performances can be extremely volatile, and ERA models like xFIP (1.68) and SIERA (1.93) both think he’s been downright snakebit. Regardless of misfortune, Hoffman’s results have been lacking.
Hoffman put up an excellent run with the Phillies between 2023-2024. Among qualified relievers in that time frame, his 2.28 ERA in 118 2/3 innings was sixth-best in the league. This performance wasn’t a mirage: his 26.0 K-BB% (implying high strikeouts and low walks) and 2.65 SIERA were the fourth and third best marks during that period, respectively. Impressed with the recent body of work, the Blue Jays staked Hoffman to a three-year, $33M deal during the 2024-2025 offseason.
His 2025 was less successful. Hoffman coughed up the most homers he’s ever allowed while pitching exclusively out of the bullpen. His postseason run looked like a return to form, and was quite good on the whole, but Hoffman’s Fall Classic run will likely be most (in)famously remembered for the game-tying home run given up to Miguel Rojas with 1 out in the ninth of Game Seven.
The Blue Jays have some other fantastic options to finish games while their erstwhile closer attempts to figure it out in a lower-leverage setting. Varland has been excellent thus far, boosting his strikeout rate in 2026 by nearly 50% of his career percentage. He seldom walks batters and has yet to have a ball leave the yard this season. He looks very much like last year’s version turned to 11, and should be first-in-line for saves (when available). Varland, in a small sample, has gone 1 for 3 in save opportunities.
Submariner righty Rogers should also be in the mix. While his strikeout numbers are pedestrian, he typically commands the zone well (career 4.5 BB% rate) and is a groundball specialist with a career 57.1 GB% rate. Rogers has had mixed success in the closer role thus far, going 19 for 42 in opportunities. Lesser heralded but still highly effective Fisher could also climb the bullpen pecking order, though he has less experience in higher-leverage situations than Varland and Rogers.
Blue Jays Acquire Willie MacIver, Designate Tyler Fitzgerald For Assignment
The Blue Jays announced that they have acquired catcher Willie MacIver from the Rangers and optioned him to Triple-A. The Rangers, who designated him for assignment yesterday, get cash considerations in return. To open a 40-man spot for MacIver, the Jays have designated Tyler Fitzgerald for assignment.
MacIver, 29, has a limited major league track record. With the Athletics in 2025, he got into 33 games but put up a meager .186/.252/.324 batting line in those. His minor league production has generally been better. During the 2024 and 2025 seasons, he put up a huge .323/.399/.534 line at Triple-A. That production came in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but was nonetheless good for a 123 wRC+, indicating he was 23% better than the average hitter in that league.
He got squeezed off the Athletics’ roster at the end of last year. The Rangers claimed him off waivers and sent him to Triple-A but he got out to a slow start this year, slashing .170/.333/.255 for Round Rock. The Rangers bumped him off their roster when making some pitching moves yesterday.
For the Jays, they are in need of some extra catching depth. They lost Alejandro Kirk to thumb surgery a couple of weeks ago. They’ve since been using the duo of Tyler Heineman and Brandon Valenzuela. The depth beyond those two was thin, with no other backstop on the 40-man. CJ Stubbs was the only other catcher in the system with major league experience. That experience was just one game with the Nationals last year. He’s also on the minor league injured list now, having not played in a couple of weeks.
The Jays will continue with the Heineman-Valenzuela pairing in the big leagues for now. Should an injury arise before Kirk comes back, then they can turn to MacIver. Valenzuela also has options and currently sports a .161/.188/.258 line in 32 big league plate appearances, so it’s possible they could swap in MacIver for Valenzuela at some point.
Fitzgerald, 28, was acquired in a similar DFA cash deal three weeks ago. The Jays had just lost Leo Jiménez since he was out of options and didn’t crack the Opening Day roster. He was flipped to the Marlins and then the Jays acquired Fitzgerald to replace some of that lost infield depth, with Fitzgerald getting optioned to the minors. A few days later, Addison Barger hit the IL and Fitzgerald was called up.
A few days after that, the Jays acquired Lenyn Sosa from the White Sox and bumped Fitzgerald back down to the minors. George Springer also hit the IL and the Jays have been using Sosa both on the infield and in the designated hitter spot.
It appears the Jays felt that catching depth was a greater need than infield depth at this point. Springer and Barger seem likely to return soon, well before Kirk will be back in the mix, so Sosa could be bumped down the depth chart in the coming weeks.
Fitzgerald can be in DFA limbo for as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Jays can take five days to field trade interest. It seems likely that Fitzgerald will garner interest from someone. He still has options and can play anywhere on the diamond except catcher, meaning a lot of teams could use him somewhere.
His offense is more of a question. He burst onto the scene with the Giants in 2024 by putting up a .280/.334/.497 line. There were some yellow flags there, as Fitzgerald struck out at a 31.7% clip and benefited from a .380 batting average on balls in play. The inevitable regression was a bit more extreme than expected, as Fitzgerald had a grisly .217/.278/.327 line in 2025. Around his transactions, he has an awful .094/.147/.125 line at Triple-A this year. Despite the offensive struggles, clubs will probably like the idea of stashing Fitzgerald in the minors and hoping for a bounceback, even if getting to his 2024 level would be a tall ask.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
Can Any Expected Contenders Escape The Early Holes They’ve Dug?
It's commonplace for at least one postseason hopeful to run into unexpected struggles early in the season. In the past, we've seen World Series aspirants and Wild Card hopefuls alike shoot themselves in the foot with sloppy April sequences that jeopardize their visions of October baseball. In some instances -- the 2022 Phillies, the 2024 Mets and, most notably, the 2019 Nationals -- teams are able to rally and make good on those playoff goals. For those 2019 Nats, they went so far as to win the whole thing. Nary a baseball fan in D.C. will ever forget the significance of the 19-31 record they faced roughly one-third of the way through the season.
More commonly, however, a disappointing April can prove to be a backbreaker. Fans need only look as far back as the 2025 Orioles to see a would-be contender whose awful early performance sunk their season before it ever had a chance to get going in earnest. The Orioles wrapped up April with a 12-18 record. By the midway mark of May, they were 15-27 -- buried by nine and a half games in the American League East and with their postseason hopes all but dashed.
There have been plenty of oddities so far in the 2026 season. Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery are the first pair of teammates in MLB history with active streaks of homers in four or more consecutive games. (Oh, and Miguel Vargas has gone deep in three straight.) We're about one-sixth of the way through the season and Mason Miller has fanned a superhuman 71% of his opponents through 11 1/3 innings. Tigers phenom Kevin McGonigle, who skipped Triple-A entirely and broke camp as a 21-year-old, ranks fourth in the majors in Baseball-Reference WAR or fifth in FanGraphs WAR, if you prefer.
But the strangest development of the 2026 doesn't focus on any one player's individual efforts. To see the most bizarre facet of the season's first month requires a step back and a more macro look at the league as a whole.
Entering play Thursday, the four worst teams in baseball weren't the Rockies, Nationals, Twins or any other widely expected cellar dweller. Instead, the bottom-four records belong to the Royals, Phillies, Mets and Red Sox -- four clubs that entered the season with clear designs on contending. Fifth-worst are the White Sox -- not terribly surprising -- followed by the sixth-worst Astros. One game up in the standings are the Blue Jays and Mariners, last year's ALCS opponents.
In any given year, seeing one or two of these clubs faceplant out of the gate wouldn't be all that remarkable. Teams fall short of expectations all the time -- often well short. But to see seven clubs who entered 2026 as win-now teams populate bottom-10 spots in the leaguewide standings with more than four weeks of the season in the books is fairly incredible.
Is the season lost for any of these clubs? Not quite yet, but the margin for error has all but eroded. For most of these clubs -- especially the bottom four -- it's going to take something close to .600 ball the rest of the way to end up in contention. Let's take a look at this year's most disappointing clubs at the season's one-month mark to see if there's a chance of a rebound and, if not, who they might have to begrudgingly listen on at this year's Aug. 3 trade deadline.
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Poll: Should The Blue Jays Make A Closer Change?
The defending American League champions have had a difficult first few weeks. Their 10-14 record has them in fourth place in the AL East. The relief group is a big part of that, as the Jays rank 23rd with a 4.81 bullpen ERA. They’ve blown seven leads, tied with the White Sox for third most in MLB (behind the A’s and Nationals at eight apiece).
The problems have extended to the ninth inning. Closer Jeff Hoffman has been charged with three blown saves, which is tied for the MLB high. That doesn’t include Tuesday’s rough outing against the Angels.
Hoffman entered with a three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth. After striking out Zach Neto, he allowed four consecutive batters to reach. Skipper John Schneider turned to Louis Varland with the bases loaded and a 4-2 lead. Varland promptly got Nolan Schanuel to bounce into a game-ending double play. That technically went down as a hold for Hoffman because he recorded an out and left the game with the lead, but it obviously wasn’t what the Jays wanted from their closer.
After the game, Schneider was noncommittal on sticking with the righty in the ninth. “We’ll reevaluate everything, talk with him, see how he’s doing. He’s going through it obviously a little bit,” Schneider told reporters on Wednesday (links via Shi Davidi of Sportsnet and Jared Greenspan of MLB.com). “We’ll see (about his role).” The skipper noted they’d take advantage of Thursday’s scheduled day off to discuss things with the pitcher.
Hoffman has made 12 appearances on the season. He has allowed at least one run in six of them. The 33-year-old righty has surrendered 11 runs (nine earned) over his first 10 2/3 innings. Hoffman has given up 16 hits, walked six batters, and hit a pair on Tuesday. He has successfully locked down a trio of saves.
The bottom line results have been terrible, but Hoffman ranks near the top of the league in strikeouts. He has fanned 24 of 57 opponents, a monster 42.1% clip. Among pitchers with at least 10 innings, only Mason Miller has a superior strikeout rate. Hoffman’s 21.2% swinging strike percentage is also second behind Miller’s unbelievable 30.3% mark. All four of Hoffman’s pitches have missed bats and his velocity is at usual levels.
There’s clearly some amount of bad luck in Hoffman’s early results. Opponents have hit above .600 when they’ve put the ball in play. If he were coming off a dominant 2025 season, the Jays would surely give him more rope to allow the batted ball variance to even out.
However, his first year in Toronto was up and down. Hoffman recorded 33 saves but ranked second among relievers with 15 home runs allowed. He had a 4.37 earned run average across 68 regular season innings. Hoffman was excellent for the majority of the postseason until allowing the famous Miguel Rojas home run in the ninth inning of World Series Game 7 — his only homer and blown save of the playoffs.
If the Jays move Hoffman out of the ninth, Varland would be the obvious choice to replace him as the closer. Last year’s deadline pickup has begun his ’26 campaign without allowing an earned run through 13 innings. He has fanned 19 hitters against three walks. Varland has been an excellent setup man but has no closing experience. Tuesday’s one-pitch outing was the first save of his MLB career.
Varland has clearly outperformed Hoffman through a few weeks, but naming him the closer would limit Schneider’s flexibility to use him earlier in games. No Toronto pitcher has entered in higher-leverage situations on average than Varland, as the biggest at-bats aren’t always in the ninth inning. Hoffman is third in that regard, also behind the already optioned Brendon Little. The Jays also have Tyler Rogers and Braydon Fisher in key late-game roles.
How should the Jays proceed?
How should the Blue Jays approach the ninth inning?
2026-27 Club Options: AL East
A couple weeks ago, MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald highlighted the players who could choose to return to the free agent market via opt-out clauses. We’ll now take a division by division look at those whose contracts contain club, mutual or vesting options. That kicks off tonight with the AL East.
Although it’s early in the season, a lot of these provisions are fairly easy to predict. The mutual options are almost certain to be declined by either the player or team (usually the latter). They’re accounting measures, essentially an unofficial deferral within the term of the contract itself. The player agrees to push back a percentage of the guaranteed money to the end of the deal in the form of an option buyout — which is paid after the end of the World Series rather than evenly distributed during the regular season as salary.
Baltimore Orioles
- RHP Zach Eflin: $25MM mutual option ($2MM buyout)
Eflin’s return to the Orioles was dashed by yet another injury: an elbow ligament that required Tommy John surgery. The O’s probably weren’t signing up for a $25MM salary even if he’d stayed healthy this year, but this is as obvious a buyout as these decisions get.
- LHP Dietrich Enns: $3.5MM club option ($125K buyout)
Enns pitched well for the O’s down the stretch after a deadline trade from Detroit. The 34-year-old southpaw worked to a 3.14 ERA while striking out 28% of batters faced across 28 2/3 innings. Although he’s nowhere close to six years of MLB service time, his contract contained a 2026 club option that presumably had a clause ensuring he’d become a free agent if the team declined. That’s fairly common for players like Enns who had spent the preceding couple seasons pitching in Asia.
The O’s restructured Enns’ contract to pay him a $2.5MM salary and guarantee a $125K buyout on a $3.5MM team option for the ’27 season. He has walked five batters over 4 1/3 innings to begin this season. Enns landed on the injured list a couple weeks ago with a foot infection. He began a rehab assignment in Triple-A on Saturday. This one is too early to judge.
- 1B Ryan Mountcastle: $7.5MM club option
Mountcastle agreed to tack on a $7.5MM option to avoid going to an arbitration hearing last offseason. Speculatively, that’s probably due to the CBA provision which doesn’t fully guarantee salaries determined at an arbitration hearing until Opening Day. Had Mountcastle not settled, the O’s might’ve released him for termination pay during Spring Training after making a splash on Pete Alonso earlier in the winter.
Although the O’s were surely happy to get the extra year of club control, it probably won’t be of much benefit. Mountcastle broke a bone in his left foot last week and will miss at least two months. It’s his second straight year with a significant injury. He lost a couple months to a hamstring strain in 2025. Mountcastle was already an odd roster fit who’d make more sense as a trade chip. Maybe he’ll return in the second half and hit well enough that the O’s feel the option price is too good to pass up, but it’s likelier this is getting declined.
Boston Red Sox
- LHP Aroldis Chapman: $13MM mutual option ($300K buyout); vests at $13MM at 40 innings pitched
Chapman’s option vests if he reaches 40 innings pitched this season and passes an end of year physical. He has surpassed 40 frames in three straight seasons. He’s at 7 2/3 innings thus far. It’d take at least one injured list stint — probably an absence of 6-8 weeks — for him to fall short of 40 innings.
In any case, the Sox would be happy to have him back at that price if he’s healthy. Chapman was probably the best reliever in MLB last season, firing 61 1/3 innings of 1.17 ERA ball with a 37% strikeout rate. The punchouts are down early this year in an exceedingly tiny sample, yet he has only allowed one run and is 4-4 in save opportunities. He remains at the top of his game at age 38.
- RHP Sonny Gray: $30MM mutual option ($10MM buyout)
Gray restructured his contract as a condition of the offseason trade that sent him from St. Louis to Boston. The deal initially came with a $35MM salary for this year and a $5MM option buyout. Gray agreed to move $4MM of salary back to the buyout while picking up an extra $1MM as a condition for waiving his no-trade clause. He’ll be a free agent.
- RHP Garrett Whitlock: $8.25MM club option ($1MM buyout)
Whitlock’s contract comes with an $8.25MM team option that includes $4MM in unspecified escalators. There’s also a $10.5MM club option for the ’28 season. Whitlock has been one of the best setup arms in MLB throughout his career. He rebounded from an injury-plagued ’24 season to fire 72 frames of 2.25 ERA ball with a 31% strikeout rate last year.
The righty’s command has been a little wobbly this year and his sinker velocity is down a couple ticks. Still, he’s only allowed two earned runs while striking out 11 through his first nine innings. No other Boston reliever is getting higher-leverage assignments on average. This is one of the likelier options to be exercised.
New York Yankees
- None.
Tampa Bay Rays
- 1B Yandy Díaz: $10MM club option; converts to $13MM option which automatically vests at 500 plate appearances
Tampa Bay preemptively locked in Díaz’s $12MM club option for the 2026 season during Spring Training ’25. In exchange, the first baseman gave the team a $10MM option for ’27 that would vest at $13MM as long as he stayed healthy enough to reach 500 plate appearances. Díaz is a little over 20% of the way there. Even if he suffers an injury that takes the vesting provision off the table, he’s been such a good hitter that Tampa Bay would probably be happy to exercise the $10MM option.
- RHP Nick Martinez: $20MM mutual option ($4MM buyout)
The mutual option in the Martinez contract was purely one of the aforementioned accounting mechanisms. The Rays aren’t paying him a $20MM salary even if he pitches to their expectations. He’ll be bought out.
- CF Cedric Mullins: $10MM mutual option ($500K buyout)
The same is very likely true for Mullins. A $10MM option price is rich for Tampa Bay unless the former All-Star outfielder has a resurgent season — in which case, he’d decline his end and look for a multi-year deal. The early returns aren’t encouraging, as Mullins is hitting .156 with two homers through his first 21 games. Over the past calendar year, he’s a .194/.257/.336 hitter.
- RHP Drew Rasmussen: $8MM club option ($500K buyout); option could escalate up to $20MM depending upon Rasmussen’s health and innings total
Before the 2025 season, the Rays signed Rasmussen to a two-year deal that bought out his final arbitration years. It included a complex club option for 2027 that was heavily dependent on his health. The option comes with an $8MM base value but includes up to $12MM in escalators based on starts and time spent on the injured list.
Rasmussen had only once topped 80 MLB innings at the time of his extension. He has undergone multiple elbow procedures and broke into the league as a reliever because of durability concerns. Rasmussen has stayed healthy over the past year-plus. He pitched a career-high 150 innings en route to a top 10 Cy Young placement in 2025. He’s out to a similarly excellent start to the ’26 campaign, allowing just four earned runs through his first 19 2/3 innings.
The option value will begin to climb before long. It’ll jump to $8.5MM once he reaches eight starts and includes additional escalators for every fourth start up through 28 appearances. If he makes 28+ starts, it’d jump to a minimum of $14MM. That’s just the beginning, as the number climbs if he avoids a long-term injured list stint. It’d get up to $20MM if he goes the entire season without an arm injury.
At $8MM, Rasmussen is an unmitigated bargain even for a low-payroll Rays club. The escalators will probably climb quickly enough that he’ll be a trade candidate. That could happen midseason if the team isn’t in the playoff hunt or early next offseason if they hold him at the deadline. If Rasmussen repeats last year’s production, he’s not going to be in any danger of being bought out — as closer Pete Fairbanks was when escalators pushed his option value from $7MM to $11MM.
Note: The Rays hold a $3.1MM club option on INF Taylor Walls. He’d remain eligible for arbitration if the team declines.
Toronto Blue Jays
- CF Myles Straw: $8MM club option ($1.75MM buyout); Guardians paying Toronto $1.75MM at season’s end as part of 2025 trade
The Blue Jays acquired Straw in a salary dump trade with the Guardians over the 2024-25 offseason. Toronto agreed to cover $11MM of the remaining two years and $14.75MM on Straw’s underwater contract. (He’d gone unclaimed on waivers that same offseason and was no longer on Cleveland’s 40-man roster.) In exchange, the Guards sent the Jays international bonus pool space. Toronto could then increase their offer to Roki Sasaki by an extra $2MM in a late, ultimately unsuccessful effort to sway the star NPB pitcher away from signing with the Dodgers.
Sasaki’s decision to join L.A. made this initially look like a complete bust for Toronto. To his credit, Straw has salvaged the move. He made the team in 2025 and did a nice job in a fourth outfield role, hitting .262/.313/.367 while playing his typically excellent outfield defense. He’s out to a good start this season as well and provides a high-floor depth option if Daulton Varsho misses any time.
Will that be enough to convince the Jays to keep Straw around? They certainly didn’t anticipate exercising an $8MM option at the time of the trade. That’s made clear enough by the teams’ agreement for the Guardians to send Toronto a $1.75MM payment — which matches the buyout value — at the end of the ’26 season. Cleveland is sending the money either way, though, so it’d amount to a $6.25MM call if the Jays want to bring Straw back.
That’s a little rich for a fourth outfielder, which is what Straw has been for the last few seasons. Varsho is an impending free agent and the Jays don’t have anyone waiting in the wings from the farm system. Straw’s play and the possibility of Varsho walking has made this a tougher call than even the Jays’ front office would have anticipated.
AL East Notes: Sandoval, Lukes, Orioles
Patrick Sandoval was in Boston today to undergo some testing after felt some left biceps soreness in the aftermath of his last minor league rehab outing. Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn’t have any info on the outcome of those tests when speaking with MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and other reporters earlier today, and it wasn’t yet known if Sandoval would even be formally pulled off his 30-day minor league rehab assignment. Sandoval has made two starts during the assignment as he continues to work his way back from an internal brace surgery in July 2024.
Kutter Crawford also hasn’t pitched since 2024 (due to wrist and knee injuries that cost him the entirety of the 2025 campaign), and the right-hander’s own rehab assignment has also been put on pause due to a new health concern. Crawford underwent an MRI today after he felt some elbow soreness following his first rehab outing, so both Crawford and Sandoval are currently in limbo as they await their next steps.
The Sox have avoided any injury setbacks within their starting five, though these setbacks for Sandoval and Crawford create more questions about the team’s rotation depth. Johan Oviedo is on the 60-day injured list due to a flexor strain, and recent call-up Tyler Uberstine is on the Triple-A injured list due to shoulder soreness. Top prospect Payton Tolle made his MLB debut last season and is Boston’s first option for a call-up if a need develops in the rotation.
Here’s more from around the AL East…
- Nathan Lukes has been battling vertigo symptoms for the last month, and visited a specialist in Phoenix on Friday to help combat the issue, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi writes. Lukes felt greatly improved following the session, and he responded by going 7-for-11 over the Blue Jays‘ three-game series with the Diamondbacks. It was a much-needed breakout series for the outfielder, who had just two hits and an ugly .182 OPS in his first 34 plate appearances. The Jays have been dealing with a lot of injuries and slumping hitters over the first few weeks, so getting Lukes right both physically and at the plate would be a big help in getting Toronto’s season on track.
- The Orioles are another struggling team with a crowded injured list, but the O’s should be getting some reinforcements back this week. Left-hander Dietrich Enns (foot infection) started a minor league rehab assignment yesterday, and fellow southpaw Keegan Akin (groin strain) has two rehab outings under his belt. The Baltimore Sun’s Jacob Calvin Meyer wrote that Adley Rutschman (ankle inflammation) and Tyler O’Neill (concussion symptoms) were both running the bases prior to today’s game, in the latest step in their recovery processes. It isn’t yet known if either might need a brief rehab assignment before returning to the O’s, and Rutschman isn’t eligible to be activated from the 10-day IL until Tuesday at the earliest.
Blue Jays Place Lazaro Estrada On 15-Day Injured List
The Blue Jays placed right-hander Lazaro Estrada on the 15-day injured list due to an impingement in his throwing shoulder. The placement is retroactive to April 5, which was the day the Jays optioned Estrada to Triple-A. As Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi explains, Estrada’s injury was discovered to have occurred when he was on the active roster, and as such Estrada has been placed on the big league version of the IL.
The transaction means that Estrada logs some extra MLB service time, which is no small matter for a player who entered the season with only four days’ worth of service time. Estrada made his big league debut in 2025, posting an 8.59 ERA over 7 1/3 innings and two appearances for Toronto. The righty only got into one game this season, but Estrada looked much sharper in tossing four shutout innings against the White Sox on April 4, issuing just two walks in the long relief appearance.
Estrada (who turns 27 later this week) began his pro career as an international signing in 2018 and has spent his entire career in the Jays organization. He didn’t reach Triple-A until 2025 and Estrada then posted a 5.73 ERA over 97 1/3 innings for Buffalo, though a .331 BABIP somewhat inflated Estrada’s ERA. Working mostly as a starter in the minors, Estrada is viewed as a long reliever or depth arm at best as a big league option.
Estrada now becomes the seventh pitcher and 11th player overall on Toronto’s big league injured list, as the Jays have been hammered by injuries in the early part of the 2026 season. The health woes may not be over yet, as Daulton Varsho left yesterday’s 6-3 loss to the Diamondbacks due to left knee discomfort. Varsho’s issue is considered minor enough for now that an MRI isn’t being planned (as per MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson), yet losing Varsho even on a day-to-day basis is another hit to the Blue Jays lineup.
AL East Injury Notes: Yesavage, Springer, Holliday, Uceta
Injuries come frequently in April, but the AL East seems particularly snake-bitten to begin the season. The Blue Jays have had several key players go down since the start of Spring Training. The Orioles are missing most of their young offensive core. The Rays and Red Sox haven’t had any debilitating absences, but both squads have been without important pieces.
Here’s a rundown of injury updates from around the division, starting with the reigning AL champs…
Toronto
- Trey Yesavage (shoulder) will make another rehab start on Tuesday at Triple-A. The goal will be 75 pitches, to “let him feel that one more time,” manager John Schneider told reporters, including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Yesavage got up to 71 pitches in his outing with Buffalo on Wednesday.
- Jose Berrios (elbow) will make his next rehab start on Wednesday. He threw 38 pitches in his first outing on Thursday. The righty was knocked around for five earned runs over 2 2/3 innings. Fellow veteran Shane Bieber (forearm) threw a bullpen on Friday. He was recently moved to the 60-day IL. To round out the rotation injuries, Cody Ponce underwent ACL repair surgery and hopes to return for Spring Training in 2027. (h/t to Mitch Bannon of The Athletic for listing the injuries in one post)
- On the hitting side, George Springer (toe) is still hitting but has yet to progress to running. The same goes for Addison Barger (ankles), though he’s expected to start running next week. Springer is on track to make it back before Barger and might not need a rehab assignment, per Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.
Baltimore
- Jackson Holliday is set to be in the lineup for High-A Frederick this weekend, the team announced. The infielder is recovering from a hamate fracture. He was recently pulled off the rehab assignment after experiencing wrist soreness at Triple-A Norfolk. Holliday had scuffled to a .167/.239/.214 line in 11 games with the Tides. The second baseman’s absence has led to the emergence of Jeremiah Jackson. The 26-year-old utilityman had a 151 wRC+ heading into Friday’s action. That’s likely to go up after a go-ahead three-run homer against the Guardians.
- Adley Rutschman ran, hit, and caught a bullpen session on Friday, relays Jake Rill of MLB.com. The catcher is nursing an ankle injury. Rutschman is eligible to return on Tuesday, but he might need rehab games first.
- Also from Rill, outfielder Tyler O’Neill is not ready to return from the 7-day concussion IL. He’s been out since April 8. “Still has some boxes to check and go from there,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “Obviously, with a concussion, it’s very touch and go.”
Tampa Bay
- Right-hander Edwin Uceta is still experiencing issues with his shoulder, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll be shut down for the next few days. After a pair of scoreless frames to begin his rehab assignment, Uceta has allowed three earned runs on six hits over his last two appearances.
- Gavin Lux was trending toward a Triple-A return on Friday, Topkin noted yesterday. However, the former Dodger was not in the Durham lineup tonight. Lux is working his way back from a shoulder injury. He hasn’t played since Saturday after injuring his ankle.
Boston
- Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com ran through several health updates for the Red Sox. Right-hander Kutter Crawford hasn’t resumed throwing and might require an MRI following elbow soreness. He missed all of 2025 with knee and wrist injuries. Crawford gave up five earned runs over three innings of work in his first rehab outing on Saturday. He reported the elbow issue shortly after.
- Reliever Justin Slaten will not return from his oblique strain when first eligible on Monday. He’s just now resuming throwing, relayed manager Alex Cora. It’s unclear when Slaten will progress to a rehab assignment.
- Left-hander Patrick Sandoval is slated for another rehab start on Sunday at Triple-A. He’s coming back from UCL surgery. Sandoval has thrown 63 and 59 pitches in his first two rehab outings.
- Sandoval’s teammate with Worcester, Tyler Uberstine, was placed on the IL with shoulder soreness. The righty was promoted earlier this season when Johan Oviedo went down with an elbow strain. Uberstine allowed a run over 2 2/3 innings in his big-league debut, taking the loss against the Padres.
- Romy Gonzalez, the lone update on the hitting side, has yet to resume baseball activities. He underwent shoulder surgery in March. Gonzalez is on the 60-day IL and won’t be back until the end of May at the earliest.
Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images