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Blue Jays Release Melvin Upton Jr., Designate Mike Bolsinger

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The Blue Jays have released outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. and designated right-hander Mike Bolsinger for assignment, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (Twitter link). The team has also placed closer Roberto Osuna on the 10-day disabled list. Meanwhile, infielder Ryan Goins, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and righties Ryan Tepera and Dominic Leone have earned roster spots.

The fact that Toronto has moved on from Upton is no surprise, as ESPN’s Buster Olney reported Saturday that he wouldn’t crack the club’s 25-man roster. The Blue Jays had been working to trade Upton, whom they acquired in a deal with the Padres last summer, but weren’t able to find a taker, leading to his release. This is certainly a fall from grace for the 32-year-old Upton, who looked like a good bet to serve as a platoon left fielder with Ezequiel Carrera at the outset of camp. But a rough spring training and, more importantly, a .196/.261/.318 showing in 165 PAs with the Blue Jays led the club to bail on him.

Upton will make $16.45MM this season, the final year of the $75.5MM deal he signed with the Braves in 2012, but the Padres are on the hook for most of that. San Diego ate all but $5MM of the remaining $22MM left on Upton’s contract when it traded him. Upton was a useful player as a member of the Padres, with whom he slashed .257/.313/.435 with 21 home runs and 29 steals in 602 PAs and earned positive marks in the field (nine Defensive Runs Saved, 2.9 Ultimate Zone Rating). Not far removed from that production, he could catch on elsewhere as a low-cost option for an outfielder-needy team.

The 29-year-old Bolsinger came to the Blue Jays from the Dodgers last summer in a one-for-one swap involving righty Jesse Chavez. Bolsinger didn’t reach the majors with Toronto, instead throwing 25 1/3 innings with Triple-A Buffalo. He amassed 189 1/3 innings with the Diamondbacks and Dodgers from 2014-16, almost exclusively from the rotation (37 appearances, 36 starts), and posted a 4.61 ERA, 8.13 K/9, 3.38 BB/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate.

Osuna, whose DL placement is retroactive to Saturday, is on the shelf thanks to a cervical spasm. The star reliever’s loss, even if it’s brief, should be a notable one for a Toronto club that’s lacking in high-end bullpen weapons. Osuna has been just that during his career, having pitched to a 2.63 ERA and registered 9.84 K/9 and 1.88 BB/9 in 143 2/3 frames over the previous two seasons. The 22-year-old has also combined for 56 saves, 36 of which came last season. Either Jason Grilli, who has plenty of ninth-inning experience, or Joe Biagini will take over the ninth inning in Osuna’s absence, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

Melvin Upton Jr. Won’t Make Blue Jays

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8:07pm: The Giants are content with their current outfielders, meaning they’re not inclined to go after Upton, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. However, Schulman doesn’t rule out a trade, noting it could come down to the caliber of prospect the Jays are seeking for Upton (Twitter links).

6:25pm: The Tigers won’t pursue Upton, either, adds Heyman (on Twitter).

6:07pm: The Orioles are “not a fit” for Upton, Heyman hears (Twitter link).

5:40pm: Outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. won’t make the Blue Jays’ Opening Day roster, reports Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Jays are listening to offers for Upton, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman, who lists the Tigers, Orioles, Rays and Giants as sensible fits.

Toronto hasn’t finalized its roster yet, though the last spot was reportedly down to Upton and out-of-options infielder Ryan Goins as of Tuesday. Notably, the Blue Jays signed utilityman Chris Coghlan to a minor league deal Saturday, so it’s possible he could factor into the mix.

The Blue Jays can’t option Upton to the minors without his consent. As such, whether via trade or release, it appears the 32-year-old’s short tenure with the organization is about to end. Upton joined the club prior to last July in a deal with the Padres, who ate all but $5MM of the remaining $22MM on his contract and acquired right-hander Hansel Rodriguez in return.

Upton is due $16.45MM this season, which will conclude the five-year, $75.5MM deal he signed with the Braves in 2012, and the right-handed-hitter seemed likely to spend the campaign as a platoon left fielder in Toronto with the lefty-swinging Ezequiel Carrera. But, statistically speaking, Upton made a poor impression down the stretch last year in Toronto, where he hit just .196/.261/.318 in 165 post-trade plate appearances. He followed that up with another weak line, .194/.216/.472, in 36 spring at-bats.

While Upton hasn’t performed well in Toronto, the once-valuable Ray revived his career to an extent in San Diego over the prior year and a half. Upton hit a decent .257/.313/.435 with 21 home runs and 29 steals in 602 plate appearances with the Padres, and he combined for nine Defensive Runs Saved and a 2.9 Ultimate Zone Rating in the field. Someone could take a flier on him, then, including the teams Heyman mentioned. Detroit’s only proven outfielders are Melvin’s brother, Justin Upton, and the injured J.D. Martinez; Baltimore tried to acquire Melvin Upton last summer; Tampa Bay, where Upton played from 2007-12, has been looking for outfield help (though the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin tweets the team won’t trade for Upton); and he could conceivably platoon in San Francisco with lefty-hitting left fielder Jarrett Parker.

Blue Jays Sign Chris Coghlan To Minor-League Deal

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The Blue Jays have announced that they’ve signed outfielder Chris Coghlan to a minor-league deal. Coghlan will report to Triple-A Buffalo.

The Phillies released Coghlan earlier this week after he reportedly declined to sign a 45-day advance consent form that would have allowed the team to cut or option him within the first 45 days of the season. He posted a .231/.319/.282 line in camp, carrying over his struggles from last season, when he batted a combined .188/.290/.318 with the Athletics and Cubs. (To be fair, Coghlan mostly just struggled in the early part of the season with the A’s, batting .252/.391/.388 in 128 plate appearances after he was traded to Chicago in June.)

The 31-year-old Coghlan is, however, just two years removed from a .250/.341/.443 season that produced a full 3.0 fWAR with the Cubs. He’s also reasonably versatile — he can play either corner outfield position, and has also played a bit at second, third and first in recent years. The Blue Jays’ plans for him are unclear, but it wouldn’t be impossible to see him eventually taking at-bats in Toronto’s left field should fellow lefty swinger Ezequiel Carrera falter.

Blue Jays Extend Manager John Gibbons

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APRIL 1: The deal is now complete, as Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi tweets.

MARCH 22, 7:54am: An agreement is in place, with the full deal “basically finished,” according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca.

MARCH 21, 4:23pm: The extension would cover the 2018 and 2019 seasons, according to the MLB Network Radio Twitter feed.  The Jays would also have a club option on Gibbons for 2020.

11:58am: The Blue Jays are “finalizing” a new contract with skipper John Gibbons that will keep him in Toronto for multiple future seasons, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun reported last week on Twitter that the club believed it would likely strike such a deal with the manager.

Gibbons, 54, is in his second stint as the head of the Jays’ field staff. He has delivered three consecutive winning campaigns and guided the club to the postseason in each of the past two seasons, both of which ended with ALCS losses. All said, Gibbons carries a 644-614 record over parts of nine seasons as the Toronto skipper.

When the Jays changed front-office leadership last winter, the organization renegotiated its agreement with Gibbons to eliminate the anti-lame duck provision that had previously governed. Under the earlier deal, the team faced a decision on January 1st of each year. If Gibbons was still in his position at that point, the following year’s option would be picked up automatically and a new option year would arise.

With that new arrangement in place, 2016 figured to represent an important campaign as president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins assessed the organization and Gibbons’s leadership. As it turned out, the skipper drew high praise from Shapiro at the close of the campaign, when it was announced that Gibbons would return. Now, it seems there’ll be a lengthier commitment binding Gibbons to the Jays.

AL East Notes: Scott, Rays, Worley, Blue Jays

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Red Sox skipper John Farrell announced to reporters today that left-hander Robby Scott will be on the team’s Opening Day roster in place of the injured Tyler Thornburg (Twitter link via the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham). Scott, 27, made his Major League debut with Boston last season and tossed six shutout innings after a standout season in the minors. In 78 innings with Triple-A Pawtucket logged a 2.54 ERA with a pristine 73-to-14 K/BB ratio.

A few more notes out of the AL East…

  • Rays right-hander Shawn Tolleson is likely to open the season on the 10-day disabled list due to a back issue, reports Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times. More concerning, Topkin notes that it “could potentially be a lengthy stay.” Mooney’s colleague, Marc Topkin, notes in a separate piece that right-handers Jumbo Diaz, Chase Whitley, Jaime Schultz and Austin Pruitt are candidates to step into the bullpen in the wake of the injuries that will sideline Tolleson and former closer Brad Boxberger to begin the season. The Rays inked Tolleson, the former Rangers closer, to a one-year deal with a modest $1MM base salary this offseason. This is hardly Tolleson’s first brush with back troubles; the righty missed much of the 2013 season with a back sprain and hit the DL late last August with a back injury that proved to end his season and his Rangers tenure.
  • Recently acquired Peter Bourjos made a strong impression in his debut with the Rays and fits “the profile that we’re looking for,” manager Kevin Cash tells Mooney. Tampa Bay has been on the hunt for a right-handed-hitting outfielder that can man center field, and Bourjos’ three-hit debut (which included a homer and a jumping catch at the wall) can only have helped his cause. The Rays picked up Bourjos in a trade that’ll send cash or a player to be named later to the White Sox recently, despite an excellent spring showing for Bourjos with the South Siders (.313/.340/.521 prior to Wednesday’s strong performance).
  • Right-hander Vance Worley and the Orioles have mutual interest in a reunion, reports Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun. Worley certainly makes sense as a depth piece for the O’s following his recent release from the nearby Nationals. The 29-year-old Worley logged 86 2/3 innings with Baltimore last season and posted a solid 3.53 ERA, though his secondary stats were less impressive in nature; Worley averaged 5.8 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 with a fastball that averaged just over 89 mph and the worst hard-contact rate of his career (31.6 percent). Manager Buck Showalter sounded intrigued about the possibility of bringing Worley back to Baltimore, telling Encina: “It’s different with a guy like Worley because you have a prior [history] with him. It’s like he’s been through camp with us. In fact, he’s been through the fire of the season.”
  • The Blue Jays announced today that they’ve optioned right-hander Dominic Leone and catcher Juan Graterol to Triple-A Buffalo. Graterol has long appeared to be on the outside looking in when it comes to the Jays’ backup catcher role, which will go to veteran Jarrod Saltlamacchia, but today’s move effectively makes that outcome official. As for Leone, his demotion reduces the competition for the final couple of ’pen spots in Toronto to a three-horse race, as Shi Davidi of Sportsnet points out (Twitter link). Left-hander Aaron Loup and righties Mike Bolsinger and Ryan Tepera are all still in the picture. Bolsinger is out of minor league options and has experience as a starte and multi-inning reliever, all of which could work in his favor (though that’s merely my own speculation).

Blue Jays Right-Hander Bo Schultz Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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The Blue Jays announced today that right-handed reliever Bo Schultz underwent Tommy John surgery. The operation, performed by Dr. Timothy Altchek, will cost Schultz the entirety of the 2017 season and likely part of the 2018 campaign as well, depending on his recovery.

The 31-year-old Schultz was a quality member of the Toronto relief corps in 2015, pitching to a 3.56 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 48.8 percent ground-ball rate in 43 1/3 innings of relief. The hard-throwing righty — he’s averaged 96 mph on his heater across the past two seasons — took a step back in 2016, struggling to a 5.51 ERA in 16 1/3 innings as he battled back from offseason left hip surgery.

Schultz entered the offseason hoping to compete for a bullpen spot this spring, though the Jays’ offseason additions of Joe Smith and J.P. Howell eliminated a pair of spots that he could’ve potentially filled. As an out-of-options player, he was a candidate to lose his 40-man spot at the end of Spring Training even prior to this injury. Now, he’ll presumably spend the 2017 campaign on the 60-day disabled list, allowing the Blue Jays to free up a 40-man roster spot but also thinning out the team’s bullpen depth.

Quick Hits: Pagan, Tigers, Giants, M. Upton, Rangers, Brewers, BoSox

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The expectation is that free agent outfielder Angel Pagan will choose his next team in the coming days, reports Jim Bowden of ESPN.com. The Tigers are among the clubs that have shown interest in Pagan, according to both Bowden and Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. However, a Pagan-Tigers union “doesn’t sound like a real possibility,” per Fenech (Twitter link). While Bowden also relays that the Giants are in on Pagan, Andrew Baggarly of the Bay Area News Group tweets otherwise.  Pagan, of course, spent the previous half-decade in San Francisco.

More from around the majors as Opening Day draws closer:

  • It’s likely that outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. will make the Blue Jays, but it’s not a lock, according to Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. The last spot on the team figures to go to either Upton, whom Toronto acquired last summer from San Diego, or out-of-options middle infielder Ryan Goins. While Upton will make $16.45MM in 2017, the final season of the five-year, $75.25MM contract he signed with the Braves in 2012, the Padres are on the hook for most of that money. The Blue Jays only took on $5MM of the remaining $22MM-plus Upton had coming his way when they traded for him. The 32-year-old was amid a decent season at that point, but he closed the campaign by slashing just .196/.261/.318 in 165 plate appearances as a Jay.
  • The Rangers are in talks with right-hander Dillon Gee about restructuring his contract, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Gee, who has an opt-out for Wednesday, is in line to make a guaranteed $2MM if he takes the last spot in the Rangers’ bullpen. That’s unpalatable to the Rangers, who might want to send Gee to the minors during the season; however, Gee would be able to refuse such an assignment because of service time and still collect the $2MM. Grant suggests the two sides should work out a minor league split, meaning Gee would earn a prorated $2MM in the majors and a lesser salary in the minors.
  • First baseman Jesus Aguilar has made the Brewers’ roster, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). Aguilar cracking Milwaukee’s roster seemed like a long shot at the outset of camp, but the February waiver wire pickup from the Indians has since recorded a video game-like, major league-best 1.395 OPS in 54 spring at-bats. The right-handed, out-of-options Aguilar could pair with fellow first baseman Eric Thames, a lefty-swinger, to give the Brewers a powerful tandem at the position.
  • Red Sox infielder Marco Hernandez came up as a trade candidate last week, when it appeared he had no place on the club’s roster, though an injury to Rule 5 pick Josh Rutledge may have created room. Rutledge suffered a strained left hamstring Tuesday, and Hernandez could be the beneficiary, notes Scott Lauber of ESPN.com. The problem is that the Red Sox want a right-handed hitter to complement corner infielders Mitch Moreland and Pablo Sandoval, but Hernandez is a lefty.

Blue Jays Tell Mat Latos He Won’t Make Team

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Blue Jays righty Mat Latos has been told he won’t make the team, and Latos must now decide whether to accept a Triple-A assignment from the club or become a free agent, according to Jays radio broadcaster Mike Wilner (Twitter links). In addition, another Jays righty, Bo Schultz, is seeing a physician in New York and is likely to require elbow surgery.

The Jays signed Latos to a minor-league deal near the beginning of camp, and he struggled in 14 2/3 innings with the club, allowing eight walks and five home runs. The former Padres and Reds standout is still only 29 but has fallen on hard times in recent seasons, posting a 4.89 ERA and a mediocre 5.4 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 over 70 innings with the White Sox and Nationals last year, also struggling with his velocity. He seemed highly unlikely to crack the Jays’ rotation (which currently consists of Marco Estrada, J.A. Happ, Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Stroman and Francisco Liriano) without an injury or two.

The 31-year-old Schultz bounced back and forth between Toronto and Triple-A Buffalo last season, posting a 5.51 ERA, 5.5 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 16 1/3 innings at the big-league level. He was competing for a spot in the Blue Jays’ bullpen. He is out of options, although, of course, if he’s facing elbow surgery, both he and the Blue Jays will have greater concerns for his future than his immediate roster status.

AL East Notes: Dombrowski, Rasmus, Rays, Alvarez, Shapiro

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While the Red Sox pitching depth has been a cause of concern this spring, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski doesn’t think the team is going to add any more starting pitchers, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe writes.  “Not that you don’t constantly keep a pulse of everything as far as you can, but to be overly aggressive in terms of trying to do something in that regard, I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Dombrowski said.  Even if the Sox did want to acquire starters, Dombrowski noted, the fact that the rotation is set (David Price’s arm issues notwithstanding) doesn’t give the team much incentive to lure a veteran pitcher.  As Dombrowski rhetorically asks, “if Price comes back quickly, what do you do with that guy?  I’d gladly have two or three more guys at Triple A that were big league starters, that were good, that we can bring up at any time.  But they want to sign with a big league contract.”

Here’s more from around the AL East…

  • Colby Rasmus will likely begin the season on the disabled list, the Rays outfielder tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.  After last season concluded, Rasmus underwent surgeries on his hip and core area, and he still isn’t quite fully recovered enough to handle regular left field duty.  Mallex Smith will likely be Tampa’s Opening Day left fielder, though Rasmus may not miss more than a week’s worth of games.
  • With Derek Norris now in the fold and Wilson Ramos expected back in May or June, the Rays’ current catchers are facing uncertainty, MLB.com’s Bill Chastain writes.  Curt Casali, Luke Maile and Jesus Sucre had been in competition for the two catching jobs, though now only one will stick around on the 25-man roster to serve as Norris’ backup.  Sucre may face the biggest hurdle, as the Rays would have to make room to find him a spot on the 40-man roster if he makes the team.
  • Pedro Alvarez’s minor league deal with the Orioles includes an opt-out clause in May, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports.  Alvarez is trying to make the O’s as an outfielder, which could be a tough call given Alvarez’s inexperience at the position and the number of other outfield candidates also in camp, Kubatko notes.
  • Scott Boras recently had some harsh words about the Blue Jays’ method of assigning pre-arbitration salaries, particularly in regards to Boras client Aaron Sanchez being renewed for a league-minimum salary in 2017.  As Jays president Mark Shapiro noted in a radio interview with Jeff Blair and Stephen Brunt on The FAN 590 (hat tip to Sportsnet’s David Singh), however, both the team and the agent are on the same page in wanting to see Sanchez eventually maximize his earnings.  “[GM Ross Atkins] and I have told Aaron, ’Listen, we want to pay you a lot of money.  We want to pay you more money.  The more we pay you the better, because that means you’ve performed better,’ ” Shapiro said. “We want our guys to all do extremely well for us to have to pay them a ton of money.  Because if we have to pay them a ton of money, that means they’re performing on the field, which means we have a better chance to be a championship team.”

Phillies, Blue Jays Interested In Angel Pagan

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The Phillies are the newest team to be linked to Angel Pagan, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (via Twitter).  The Blue Jays are also still connected to the Pagan hunt, though previous reports had indicated that Toronto was content with its current mix of left field options.

Pagan would be something of a curious fit, at first glance, for a Phillies team that seems pretty set with Odubel Herrera in center and new arrivals Howie Kendrick and Michael Saunders manning the corner outfield slots.  Beyond the starters, Philadelphia also has several internal options (Aaron Altherr and Tyler Goeddel) and veterans on non-roster invites (Daniel Nava and Chris Coghlan) in camp battling for reserve roles.  The Phils have stressed Kendrick’s value as a multi-position player, however, so the club could now be considering giving Kendrick less time in left than originally anticipated.  The right-handed hitting Kendrick isn’t exactly an ideal time-share candidate for second baseman Cesar Hernandez (a switch-hitter), third baseman Maikel Franco or first baseman Tommy Joseph (both right-handed bats), though if Kendrick could spell any of these young players on a regular basis and still maintain an everyday presence in the lineup.

As I noted in my recent look at the Blue Jays’ offseason, there is quite a bit of uncertainty surrounding the team’s left field situation.  Steve Pearce is the Jays’ top option in left, though he has yet to play the position in spring action as he recovers from elbow surgery, and Pearce might eventually be required at first base if Justin Smoak can’t handle an everyday job.  A platoon of Melvin Upton Jr. and Ezequiel Carrera is also not ideal, as Carrera is a reverse-splits batter who hits lefties better than righties and Upton just struggled badly after joining the Jays last summer.  Dalton Pompey, meanwhile, is out of action due to a concussion.

Several teams (including the Braves, Royals, Pirates, Nationals, and Orioles) have been linked to Pagan this offseason, though the veteran is holding out until he receives a Major League contract, reportedly in the neighborhood of $5MM.  Pagan has a case for such a commitment, given that he hit .277/.331/.418 with a career-best 12 homers over 543 PA for the Giants in a 2.1 fWAR season last year.  Pagan is 35, however, and is also just a season removed from a below-replacement level (-0.7 fWAR) year in 2015, though he generated a combined 3.1 fWAR over 167 games in 2013-14.  Pagan is no longer a viable center field defender, though he could fill play there in a pinch; presumably he could also handle right (though he hasn’t played the position since 2010) and he graded out as a decent left fielder last year with the Giants.

The switch-hitting Pagan has been notably better against right-handed pitching over the last few years than he has against southpaws, making him a good fit on a very right-handed Jays roster.  Philadelphia has Hernandez (a switch-hitter) and Herrera and Saunders as left-handed bats in the everyday lineup, while Coghlan and the switch-hitting Nava are the left-handed options amidst the backup outfield contingent.

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