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Blue Jays Uninterested In Jose Reyes Reunion

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History was made Sunday when Yankees right fielder Carlos Beltran slugged his 400th home run, becoming the 54th player to reach the milestone and just the fourth switch hitter to accomplish the feat. Beltran is now in a group with three other switch-hitting baseball luminaries in Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray and Chipper Jones. Two of those three are already in the Hall of Fame, and the other (Jones) is all but certain to get there eventually. Whether Beltran should join them in Cooperstown is up for debate, but as a 400-homer, 300-steal, 66-fWAR player, he certainly has a legitimate case.

More from around baseball:

  • Jim Bowden of SiriusXM has asked a dozen teams whether they’d be interested in acquiring suspended Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes if Colorado were to pick up the remaining money on his contract, and all 12 have passed on the idea (Twitter link). One of those clubs is the Blue Jays, for whom Reyes played from 2013 until midway through last season. General manager Ross Atkins told Bowden on Sunday that Toronto has no interest in Reyes (Twitter link), who would likely have difficulty finding playing time on a team with Troy Tulowitzki at short and second baseman Devon Travis nearing a return from offseason shoulder surgery.
  • Although no one Bowden has spoken with wants any part of Reyes, who is serving a suspension through May 31 because of a violation of the league’s domestic violence policy, a National League executive told John Perrotto of Today’s Knuckleball that he expects the 32-year-old to get another opportunity. “While I don’t condone what he did, he had a good reputation of being a good guy and a good teammate to that point,” said the executive. “I’m sure whoever take a chance on him is going to let him know right up front that there will be a zero-tolerance policy. One misstep and he’s gone.” Also of importance: Commissioner Rob Manfred wanted to give Reyes a longer suspension than the 52-game ban he settled on, but there wasn’t enough evidence to levy a harsher punishment, a source told Perrotto.

Blue Jays Place Brett Cecil On DL With Triceps Strain

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The Blue Jays have placed southpaw reliever Brett Cecil on the 15-day disabled list with a left triceps strain, according to a team announcement. In a corresponding move, Toronto recalled right-hander Dustin Antolin from Triple-A Buffalo.

This injury is the latest to go wrong in 2016 for Cecil, who said he felt “tender” after throwing 2/3 of an inning Saturday in the Blue Jays’ 6-5 loss to the Rangers. Cecil has allowed six earned runs on 17 hits in 10 1/3 innings this season, and his strikeout rate and velocity have both trended in discouraging directions. Cecil was expected to continue serving as a shutdown option for Toronto after posting a 2.67 ERA, 11.55 K/9 and 3.37 BB/9 over 168 1/3 combined innings from 2013-15. He has instead joined right-hander Drew Storen as one of the two biggest disappointments in Toronto’s bullpen.

Antolin, whom the Jays chose in the 11th round of the 2008 draft, could finally step on a major league mound for the first time. The 26-year-old has earned his first Triple-A experience this year, throwing 19 innings with a 2.84 ERA to accompany an 11.37 K/9 and 5.21 BB/9. Antolin throws a mid-90s fastball and recently emerged as Buffalo’s closer, tweets Ben Wagner of ESPN 1520. All told, Antolin owns a 4.38 ERA, 8.8 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 363 1/3 career minor league frames.

Latest On Chris Colabello

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  • Blue Jays first baseman/designated hitter Chris Colabello and Phillies reliever Daniel Stumpf both received 80-game suspensions in April after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, and the two remain confused as to how PEDs entered their respective systems, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Colabello’s agent, Brian Charles, organized a conference call earlier this week with doctors, scientists and molecular biologists, all of whom are experts on steroid testing, as he tries to get to the bottom of his client’s positive test. Colabello, Stumpf and ex-UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir also partook in the call. All three tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Turinabol, and each is without an answer as to how. The players association finds the cases of Colabello and Stumpf “puzzling,” sources tell Rosenthal. “The part that scares me the most is that I don’t know what to change for this not to happen again,” stated Stumpf, who said he only takes fish oil and doctor-prescribed medication. “It’s killing me,” added Colabello. “Everything I do in my life is thought out with careful attention and detail. I don’t do irresponsible things because I never want to make a mistake that could cost me my career.”

Devon Travis Begins Rehab Assignment

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  • The Blue Jays, meanwhile, now have reason to believe that second baseman Devon Travis will soon be back. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca tweets that Travis is heading out on a rehab assignment, which will begin a maximum twenty-day stretch in the minors. So long as Travis progresses, he ought to be back in Toronto by early June, it would appear. The 25-year-old burst onto the scene early last year, but he hasn’t played since late July after undergoing a procedure on his left shoulder.

Blue Jays Nearing Decision On Franklin Morales

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Blue Jays left-hander Franklin Morales is just eight days from accumulating 45 days on the club’s roster, at which point the entirety of his $2MM salary becomes guaranteed, tweets Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. (Morales’ contract contains a 45-day advance consent clause — a common provision which MLBTR’s Zach Links explored at length in Spring Training 2014.) However, Morales is currently on the disabled list and has yet to begin a rehab assignment, meaning there’s virtually no way he’ll be activated by that time. While the Blue Jays could’ve cut loose a healthy Morales within a 45-day window and not had to pay his entire salary, advance consent clauses also prohibit teams from terminating the salary of injured players. As such, Morales is effectively guaranteed to receive all of that $2MM sum. Of course, if Morales pitches as well as he did with the Royals in 2015 upon activation from the DL, the Jays won’t mind that salary.

Nationals Acquire Martin Medina From Blue Jays

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  • The Nationals acquired minor league catcher Martin Medina from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. The 26-year-old was originally drafted by the White Sox in the 20th round back in 2011, but Chicago flipped him to Toronto last summer (also for cash considerations). He’s a career .244/.314/.334 hitter in the minors and has caught 30 percent of opposing base-stealers, but he’s yet to progress beyond the Double-A level.

Blue Jays Release Michael Bourn

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The Blue Jays released outfielder Michael Bourn from his minor league deal over the weekend, tweets John Lott of Vice Sports. (The news, it would seem, first appeared on the Florida State League’s transactions page.) The veteran center fielder had agreed to a minors pact with Toronto late last month and was playing well with the club’s Class-A Advanced affiliate, hitting .257/.366/.371 with a pair of doubles, a triple and a stolen base (one attempt) in 41 plate appearances prior to his departure from the organization.

Presumably, Bourn will seek employment with a club that has a clearer path to big league time. His best bet with the Blue Jays had seemingly been to supplant the fleet-footed Ezequiel Carrera as Toronto’s fourth outfielder, but Carrera’s production soared after Bourn was signed to his deal (though that’s largely coincidental, of course). Carrera has collected 11 hits in his past 23 at-bats, and he offers the Jays a younger player with a skill set similar to that of Bourn.

The 33-year-old Bourn is earning $14MM in 2016 — the final season of a four-year, $48MM contract he signed with Cleveland prior to the 2013 campaign. The Indians and Braves (who acquired Bourn last August) are on the hook for his salary this season, meaning he would only cost a signing club the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for any time spent on the Major League roster. Bourn’s offense has slowly deteriorated since signing with Cleveland, though, in part due to hamstring injuries that have also led to prolonged stints on the disabled list. After hitting a combined .284/.348/.388 with 103 stolen bases in the two seasons leading up to his free agency, Bourn has batted just .253/.313/.366 with 50 steals over the first three years of his current contract.

Blue Jays Facing Need For Bullpen Help

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  • The Blue Jays suffered another late-game breakdown today, and bullpen help could soon become a need for the club unless the relief corps improves, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith writes.  Drew Storen and Brett Cecil, expected to be Toronto’s chief setup men, have instead struggled badly — Storen has an even 9.00 ERA over 11 innings after allowing two runs today, while Cecil has a 5.59 ERA over 9 2/3 frames.

Alex Anthopoulos Reflects On Time With Blue Jays

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The Dodgers are currently playing a series against the Blue Jays in Toronto, which means that former Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos (currently the Dodgers’ vice president of baseball operations) is back in town. Anthopoulos spoke to reporters, including MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm, about his time with the Jays organization. Anthopoulos notes that one trade he wonders about not making was for Ben Zobrist, who the Jays evidently were close to acquiring from Oakland last season before he ultimately went to Kansas City. He also looks back on one trade he did make, sending Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud to New York in his famous 2012 deal for R.A. Dickey. Syndergaard, of course, has emerged as a phenom, but Anthopoulos defends the deal from the Blue Jays’ perspective. The team had two sluggers in their primes, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, and faced a tough decision about whether to build around them or consider trading them and resetting for the future. The Jays opted for the former. “The thought was three years in a row, and beyond, to be able to get the playoffs and win the World Series,” Anthopoulos says. “The thought was always that it could be what it is today in terms of attendance, TV ratings, fan interest. The belief was there. It was almost like a wick and you needed to light it.” Here’s more from the AL East.

Latest On Tim Lincecum Showcase

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We learned recently that free agent righty Tim Lincecum is preparing for a long-awaited showcase on Friday. Once one of the best pitchers in the game, Lincecum has been slowed by a variety of injury and performance issues more recently — including, particularly, hip surgery this past September — and is looking to show that he’s back to full health before signing.

Here’s the latest, with links to the Twitter account of MLB Network’s Jon Heyman unless otherwise noted:

  • The showcase will be held at Scottsdale Stadium, the Giants’ spring home, per Heyman. While Lincecum has availed himself of his long-time team’s facilities during his ramp-up, it shouldn’t be supposed that a return to San Francisco is particularly likely. As we’ve covered before, the Giants are said to be interested in Lincecum as a bullpen option, while he’s hoping to find a shot as a starter.
  • This particular event was always going to draw more fanfare than a typical bullpen session for a free agent who hasn’t posted a sub-4.00 ERA since 2011, but it appears that it could be made into a bigger spectacle than anyone would have foreseen. ESPN may be on hand to broadcast the outing, Heyman tweets, which would certainly lend an interesting combine-esque quality to the proceedings.
  • Beyond the Giants, we heard previously that the Orioles, Padres, and Athletics plan to have a scouting presence on hand. The White Sox, too, will be there, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link), as will the Angels, according to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com (via Twitter). And the Blue Jays will also take a look, John Lott tweets.
  • Heyman also adds several more clubs that plant to send eyes (links: 1; 2; 3; 4). The Dodgers, Cubs, Nationals, and Marlins will be there from the National League side of things. And American League teams with at least one scout in the stands will include the Rangers and Astros.
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