Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Blue Jays Rumors

Blue Jays Sign Luke Bard To Minor League Contract

By | at

The Blue Jays announced that Luke Bard has been signed to a minor league deal.  The right-hander receives an invitation to the Jays’ big league spring camp.

Bard will continue his time in the AL East after pitching with both the Rays and Yankees in 2022.  After signing a minors contract with Tampa in March, Bard pitched in eight games with the Rays at the MLB level before being designated for assignment in August.  The Yankees claimed Bard off waivers, with the righty making only a single appearance in the pinstripes.  Bard had a 1.80 ERA over his 15 total Major League innings last season, though with only eight strikeouts and seven walks.

At the Triple-A level, Bard had a 4.29 ERA, 25.85% strikeout rate, and 6.8% walk rate over 35 2/3 combined innings with the Rays’ and Yankees’ top affiliates.  All in all, it was a respectable return season for Bard, who missed all of 2021 recovering from hip surgery.

Debuting in the majors with the Angels in 2018, Bard had a 5.05 ERA over 66 innings (as a reliever and an opener) with Anaheim from 2018-20.  While Bard has yet to deliver much in the way of bottom-line results, he did have a 6.5% walk rate over those three Angels seasons, and he has consistently displayed an elite spin rate on his fastball.  This particular stat could be why Bard has been of particular interest to such contenders as the Rays, Yankees, and now the Blue Jays, as Bard might still be something of an untapped resource if he can translate that spin rate into greater on-field success.

For the no-risk cost of a minor league deal, Toronto will get a chance to observe the 32-year-old in Spring Training and see if Bard can be a candidate for a bullpen job.  Erik Swanson (obtained in the Teoscar Hernandez trade) was the Jays’ highest-profile relief addition this winter, while Paul Fry, Julian Fernández, Junior Fernandez, and Jay Jackson are also in camp on minor league deals.  Chad Green signed a two-year Major League contract with the Blue Jays, but Green isn’t expected to be a factor until midseason as he continues to recover from Tommy John surgery.

Blue Jays Sign Bo Bichette To Three-Year Deal To Avoid Arbitration

By | at

FEBRUARY 10: The Associated Press reports the specific financial breakdown. Bichette receives a $3.25MM signing bonus and a $2.85MM salary for the upcoming season, bringing his 2023 payout to $6.1MM. He’ll make $11MM in 2024 and $16.5MM in ’25. If Bichette wins an MVP in either of the first two seasons, his salary would escalate by $2.25MM for any future seasons. Future salaries would escalate by $1.25MM for a second or third place finish and by $250K for a fourth or fifth place tally.

FEBRUARY 9: The Blue Jays announced Thursday evening that star shortstop Bo Bichette has signed a three-year contract to buy out his remaining seasons of arbitration eligibility. The deal will not affect the team’s window of club control by delaying his path to free agency. Bichette, a Vayner Sports client, will reportedly be guaranteed $33.6MM over the three seasons with escalators that could eventually bring the total to $40.65MM.

Bichette debuted in the second half of the 2019 campaign and has spent the past three years as Toronto’s everyday shortstop. He has produced against big league pitching from day one, breaking into the majors with a .311/.358/.571 showing through 46 games as a rookie. Bichette hasn’t quite maintained that kind of pace over a full season but has posted well above-average offensive marks in every year of his career.

He reached arbitration for the first time this winter after surpassing the three-year service threshold during the summer. Bichette was slated to carry a career .297/.340/.491 line with 69 home runs, 239 runs batted in and 46 stolen bases through 393 MLB games into that process. The 2022 campaign was right in line with his career marks, as he hit .290/.333/.469 with 24 longballs, 93 RBI and 13 steals (albeit in 21 attempts). He has led the American League in hits in each of the past two seasons and finished in the top 15 in AL MVP balloting in both years.

Financial terms of the contract remain unreported. Bichette’s camp had filed for a $7.5MM salary last month, with the Jays countering at $5MM. The $2.5MM gap tied that between the Astros and outfielder Kyle Tucker — who are themselves discussing a potential multi-year deal — for the largest discrepancy between a team and player this offseason. That’s a moot point now, as the three-year pact overrides that and ensures the Jays and Bichette won’t go to an arbitration hearing at any time.

Bichette turns 25 next month and is still slated to hit free agency after the 2025 season — when he’ll be entering his age-28 campaign. It’s unclear whether the sides plan to engage in discussions on a more significant long-term pact that would alter the Jays’ window of club control this spring. Toronto brass has predictably spoken of a desire to explore such arrangements with their top young players (generally assumed to be Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alek Manoah) but isn’t facing pressing urgency to do so. Guerrero is also arbitration-eligible through 2025, while Manoah won’t reach arbitration until next offseason as a likely Super Two qualifier and isn’t going to hit free agency until after the 2027 campaign.

The Jays have now completed their arbitration work for the offseason. Bichette was the only of their 12 eligible players who didn’t agree to a deal prior to last month’s deadline for exchanging figures.

Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet first reported the Jays and Bichette had agreed to a multi-year deal to avoid arbitration and that a three-year pact had been under consideration. Joel Sherman of the New York Post confirmed the sides were in agreement on a three-year deal. Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported the guarantee and potential maximum value.

Each MLB Team’s Players On WBC Rosters

By | at

The World Baseball Classic is returning this year, the first time since 2017. The quadrennial event was supposed to take place in 2021 but was scuttled by the pandemic, now returning after a six-year absence. Rosters for the tournament were announced today and those can be found at this link. Here is a breakdown of which players from each MLB team are set to take participate. Quick caveat that this list is fluid and might be changed as more information becomes available.

Without further ado…

Angels

Astros

Athletics

Blue Jays

Braves

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

Giants

Guardians

Marlins

Mariners

Mets

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Pirates

Rangers

Rays

Red Sox

Reds

Rockies

Royals

Tigers

Twins

White Sox

Yankees

Players That Could Move To The 60-Day IL Once Spring Training Begins

By | at

Just about every baseball team has a full 40-man roster now, with the Astros the only team with an open spot at the moment. That means that just about every transaction, be it a free agent signing or a waiver claim, requires a corresponding move.

However, that could soon change as the injured list is coming back soon. There’s no IL from the end of a season until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training for the next campaign, which they will do next week. That means some clubs could potentially gain a bit of extra roster flexibility at that time, since players on the 60-day IL don’t count against a team’s roster total. However, it’s worth pointing out that the “60 days” don’t start until Opening Day, which is March 30 this year. That means, though a team can transfer a player to the 60-day IL next week, they will likely only do so if they aren’t expecting the player back until end of May or later.

With some notable free agents still unsigned like Jurickson Profar, Andrew Chafin, Michael Wacha, Elvis Andrus and many others, it’s possible that teams interested in their services might try to hold off on getting a deal done until next week. Or perhaps clubs that have players they would like to sneak through waivers will try to do so now, before rival clubs gain that extra roster flexibility with the IL opening up. Then again, some clubs will need to keep in mind non-roster players they are planning to promote by Opening Day and might hold off on making a move until that time.

Here are some players who are expected to miss some significant time and could find themselves transferred soon, sorted by division.

AL East

Hyun Jin Ryu/Chad Green

The Blue Jays have a pair of pitchers on their 40-man roster who are returning from Tommy John surgery. They should be on a similar timeline, as they each underwent the procedure in June of last year, though Green will most likely return first since relievers generally require less time to build up arm strength compared to starters. Regardless, the recovery time period for TJS is about 12-18 months, meaning neither pitcher is likely to return until midseason at the earliest. Ryu recently said he was targeting a July return.

Trevor Story

The Red Sox shortstop recently underwent an internal brace procedure on his throwing elbow, a similar operation to Tommy John. Though he’s confident he’ll return at some point, he’s slated to miss most of the upcoming season and is certainly headed for the injured list.

John Means

The Orioles lefty underwent Tommy John surgery in late of April of 2022. With the 12-18 month recovery window for TJS, he could theoretically return in the first couple of months of the season, so the O’s may not want to transfer him to the injured list until they have some clarity about his timeline.

Scott Effross/Luis Gil/Frankie Montas

Effross is a lock for the Yankees’ injured list as he underwent Tommy John in October and will likely miss the entire 2023 campaign. Gil had the same surgery but in May, which means he’ll likely be out until midseason. The situation with Montas is a bit less clear, as he’s dealing with shoulder inflammation that is expected to keep him out for the first month of the season. Unless he suffers some sort of setback, he probably won’t be placed on the 60-day IL right away.

Shane Baz/Andrew Kittredge

The Rays have a couple of hurlers bound for the IL as Baz underwent Tommy John in September while Kittredge had the same surgery in June. They’re both going to miss the first half of the year, with Baz potentially missing the entire season.

AL Central

Casey Mize/Tarik Skubal

Mize underwent Tommy John surgery in June and should be placed on the Tigers’ IL at some point. Skubal’s case is a bit less certain after he underwent flexor tendon surgery in August. The club hasn’t provided a timeline for his recovery but some recent comparables can give us some idea. Danny Duffy underwent the procedure in October of 2021 and was hoping to return by June of 2022, though a setback prevented him from pitching at all on the year. Matthew Boyd went under the knife for flexor tendon surgery in September of 2021 and didn’t return to a big league mound until September of 2022.

Garrett Crochet/Liam Hendriks

Crochet of the White Sox underwent Tommy John surgery in April of last year but was already stretched out to throwing from 120 feet in November. Whether he’s able to return in the early parts of 2023 or not will depend on his continued progression in that recovery process. In a less conventional situation, Liam Hendriks announced last month that he’s beginning treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It’s unknown how long his treatment will take but general manager Rick Hahn said they don’t expect updates “prior to Opening Day at the very earliest.”

Chris Paddack/Royce Lewis

Paddack was recently extended by the Twins though he underwent Tommy John in May of last year and likely won’t be ready to return until the middle of the upcoming campaign. Lewis tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in June of last year, the second year in a row that he suffered that unfortunate injury. At the time, his recovery timeline was estimated at 12 months, which likely puts him on the shelf until midseason as well.

AL West

Brett Martin

It was reported last month that the Rangers lefty will require shoulder surgery. It was said that the timeline will become more clear in the aftermath of the procedure but he’s likely to miss the entirety of the upcoming season.

NL East

Bryce Harper

The Phillies superstar underwent Tommy John surgery in November and the club has announced they expect him to be out of action until around the All-Star break in July.

Huascar Ynoa/Tyler Matzek

Both these Braves pitchers underwent Tommy John last year, with Ynoa going under the knife in September and Matzek in October. That makes them both long shots for appearing at all this year, but especially not in the first half.

Max Meyer/Anthony Bender/Sixto Sanchez

The Marlins have a couple of arms that will certainly miss time this year and one more that’s a wild card. Meyer and Bender both underwent Tommy John in August and will miss most of the upcoming campaign. Sanchez underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery in October with the club announcing at that time they expected him back by spring. It was reported last month that Sanchez is already throwing bullpens, which perhaps points against an IL stint. However, after the shoulder issues completely wiped out his 2021 and 2022 seasons, it’s hard to know how much to rely on his health going forward.

Danny Mendick

The Mets signed Mendick after he was non-tendered by the White Sox. The infielder/outfielder tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in June of last year and missed the second half of the season. There haven’t been any updates on his status recently, but further clarity will likely come when camp gets rolling.

Tanner Rainey/Stephen Strasburg

The Nationals have one fairly straightforward case in Tanner Rainey, who underwent Tommy John in August and will likely miss most of the upcoming season. What’s less clear is the situation surrounding Strasburg, who’s hardly pitched at all over the past three years due to thoracic outlet syndrome and various issues seemingly related to that. He made one appearance in the big leagues last year, pitching 4 2/3 in one start in June but went on the IL right after and never returned. He spoke about the issue in September, saying he hadn’t thrown in months and that he is “not really sure what the future holds.”

NL Central

Ethan Roberts/Codi Heuer/Kyle Hendricks

Roberts underwent Tommy John in June and likely won’t be available for the Cubs until midseason. Heuer had TJS in March but the latest reporting suggests he won’t return until June or July. The status of Hendricks is less clear, with the righty trying to recover from a capsular tear in his shoulder. The club is hoping to have him back by Opening Day but also said they won’t rush him. He recently said that he’s expecting to be on a mound by March 1.

Vladimir Gutierrez/Tejay Antone

Gutierrez, a Reds righty, underwent Tommy John in July and should miss the first few months of the upcoming season at least. Antone was rehabbing from a Tommy John of his own when he suffered a flexor strain in his forearm. He announced today he’s received a platelet-rich plasma injection to treat the issue and suggested he might miss the first half of the season.

Max Kranick

The Pirates right-hander required Tommy John in June and will miss the first half of the upcoming campaign.

NL West

Antonio Senzatela/Tyler Kinley

The Rockies have a couple of murky situations on their hands with these hurlers. Senzatela tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last year and required surgery in August. The timeline at that point was given at 6-8 months, which would place his return somewhere in the February-April window. Whether he’ll require a lengthy IL stint will depend on if his recovery is still on that track. Kinley was diagnosed with an elbow strain and a flexor tear in his forearm in June of last year. He underwent surgery in July with the club announcing they expected him to miss one calendar year, which should prevent him from pitching early in the campaign.

Walker Buehler/Blake Treinen/J.P. Feyereisen

The Dodgers have a trio of pitchers that are likely to miss most or perhaps all of the upcoming season. Buehler required Tommy John in August and could potentially return very late in the year. Treinen underwent shoulder surgery in November with an estimated recovery time of 10 months. Feyereisen underwent shoulder surgery in December and won’t be able to begin throwing until four months after that procedure, or around April. His eventual return to game shape will depend on how long it takes him to progress from simply throwing to getting up to full game speed.

Luke Jackson

The Giants signed the right-hander in free agency, despite Jackson undergoing Tommy John in April. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters last month that there was a chance Jackson begins the year on the 60-day IL, though that doesn’t seem to indicate any kind of setback. “He’s doing great in his rehab, so we’re going to wait and see how he’s doing in spring training,” Zaidi said.

Blue Jays Place Matt Gage On Release Waivers

By | at

The Blue Jays have placed reliever Matt Gage on unconditional release waivers, tweets Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet. The southpaw had lost his spot on the 40-man roster a week ago once the Jays finalized their two-year free agent deal with Chad Green.

Gage joined the Toronto organization a year ago as a minor league free agent. He opened the season with their top affiliate in Buffalo and pitched well, working to a 2.34 ERA over 42 1/3 innings of relief. Gage fanned 27.4% of opponents, induced grounders at a quality 47% clip and walked 9.5% of batters. It was enough for the Jays to give him his first MLB call at age 29.

While Gage didn’t spend significant time at the big league level, he fared reasonably well in limited opportunities. He’d go on to make 11 appearances, allowing just four runs through 13 innings. His 12:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio wasn’t overly impressive, but he generated swinging strikes on over 14% of his offerings. The 6’3″ hurler now has a 5.22 ERA through 205 career innings at the Triple-A level across four seasons.

It looks as if the 2022 campaign will be Gage’s only year as a member of the Jays’ organization. If he goes unclaimed on release waivers, he’d hit free agency and have the ability to scour the market for other opportunities.

Toronto’s pitching staff skews very right-handed. Tim Mayza is the only southpaw who’s a lock for the season-opening bullpen. Yusei Kikuchi could get another look there if he struggles again as a starting pitcher, though he’s seemingly penciled into the final rotation job to open the year. The only other left-handed pitcher on the 40-man roster is Hyun Jin Ryu, who won’t be ready until around the All-Star Break at the earliest after last summer’s Tommy John surgery. Former Oriole Paul Fry will be in camp as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the Jays look for another veteran depth option to join that mix.

Read The Transcript Of Today’s Chat With Former MLB Pitcher Scott Feldman

By | at

Scott Feldman was drafted in 2002 in the 41st round by the Astros out of a junior college: College of San Mateo in California.  He was a draft-and-follow and didn’t end up signing with the Astros.  Because of the Astros’ claim on Feldman’s rights, he wasn’t scouted heavily after they drafted him.  So in 2003, Feldman wound up being drafted by the Rangers in the 30th round “as a favor to my agent,” as he later put it.  Shortly thereafter, his elbow started hurting, and he ended up needing Tommy John surgery.

That progression did not put Feldman on the radar of prospect gurus, and he worked out of the bullpen in the minor leagues.  He cracked the Majors in late 2005 with a brief look out of the Rangers’ bullpen.  Feldman spent the ’06 and ’07 seasons bouncing between Triple-A and long relief work in the bigs.

The Rangers decided to try Feldman as a starter in 2008, and he kept getting looks in the rotation as needs arose.  Feldman made 25 starts that year, but still didn’t have a rotation spot locked up.  By late April of ’09, however, he took over for an injured incumbent and didn’t look back.  Feldman put up a 4.08 ERA in 31 starts that year, his 17 wins ranking fifth in MLB.  Feldman’s breakout 2009 season, which included an 11-strikeout effort and six different scoreless outings, led to the Rangers’ Opening Day nod in 2010.  He also landed a three-year contract with a club option for a fourth.

Feldman dealt with knee surgery and the recovery process in 2010 and ’11, and he moved in and out of the Rangers’ rotation.  The Rangers declined their club option for 2013, and Feldman reached free agency for the first time.  He found a rotation spot on a one-year deal with the rebuilding Cubs.

After a fine start to the 2013 season, the Cubs famously traded Feldman to the Orioles in the deal that brought back Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop.  Returning to free agency after that season, Feldman inked a three-year, $30MM deal to join another rebuilding club, the Astros.  He garnered the club’s Opening Day start in 2014.

Feldman did solid work for the Astros outside of some injuries.  In the final year of his contract, he was dealt to the Blue Jays at the trade deadline.  He landed a one-year deal with the Reds for 2017 and snagged their Opening Day start — his third such honor with a third different club.  Feldman underwent season-ending knee surgery in August of that year.

Scott tried to rehab his knee to play in 2018 or ’19, but as he puts it, “it wasn’t meant to be.”  He notes, “In April of 2019 I decided I was done. I’ve reflected a lot on how lucky I was to get to play professional baseball from 2003-2017. All the great people I got to be around on a daily basis for 15 years. Teammates, coaches, clubhouse guys, front office, ownership.”

Feldman wound up having a very nice MLB career, especially for a guy who didn’t have those aspirations in high school.  He won 78 games and made 204 starts, tallying nearly 1,400 innings.  He got to pitch in the 2011 postseason for the Rangers, including five outings in the World Series against the Cardinals.  Feldman provided a lot of value to teams by gobbling up innings, and he always displayed excellent control.  Born in Kailua, Hawaii, Feldman was one of the game’s best pitchers to come out of that state.

As MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted in a free-agent profile of Feldman back in 2013, his father was an FBI agent and army veteran.  Feldman discussed his close relationship with his father in a 2014 interview with MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, shortly after his father passed away after a lengthy battle with brain cancer.  As McTaggart noted, Feldman pitched just two days later and fired seven shutout innings.

For those wondering what Scott is up to now, he writes, “I’ve been staying busy with a couple real estate projects here and there, spending time with family, traveling, golfing, a little bit of coaching at my alma mater, taking some classes, hiring the right people to work with, re-establishing community in Northern California after being away for such a long time, trying to give back, and planning for what might be next.”  Scott is involved with Stop Soldier Suicide, as well as a mental health and wellness company called Most Days.

We were thrilled to have Scott join us to chat with MLBTR readers about a variety of topics including his experience pitching in the World Series, navigating free agency three different times, being traded midseason and more. Click here to read the transcript!

Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Outfielder Chad Hermansen

By | at

Chad Hermansen was drafted tenth overall by the Pirates out of Nevada’s Green Valley High School back in 1995, setting a club record with a $1.15MM bonus.  Hermansen started his pro career as a 17-year-old in the Gulf Coast League.  For the next five years as he worked his way through the Pirates’ minor league affiliates, he was considered a top-50 prospect by Baseball America, peaking at #13 before the ’98 season.

Hermansen made his MLB debut with the 1999 Pirates as a September call-up.  At the 2002 trade deadline, he was dealt to the Cubs, joining an interesting but bad roster.

After that season, Hermansen was traded with Todd Hundley to the Dodgers, bringing Mark Grudzielanek and Eric Karros to the Cubs.  Hermansen got a final taste of the Majors in 2004 with the Blue Jays.  Chad spent some additional time at Triple-A beyond that, playing in the Marlins and Mets organizations.

In the end, Hermansen tallied 541 plate appearances in the Majors from 1999-2004.  He popped 13 home runs in that span, including shots off Zambrano and Al Leiter.

After his playing career, Chad spent eight years scouting for the Angels.  He’s now focused on being a life coach for former athletes.  You can check out Chad’s website here and follow him on Twitter here.  He also has a podcast and YouTube Channel called Mental Edge Training Coach where he interviews current and former players, coaches, scouts, and parents on their baseball story and the mental game.

Chad held a very informative and interesting chat with MLBTR readers today, talking about dealing with high expectations, the mental side of baseball, how scouting has changed, getting traded twice in one year, how he spent his signing bonus, and much more.  Read the transcript here!

Blue Jays Sign Chad Green

By | at

The Blue Jays have signed right-hander Chad Green to a deal that will reportedly guarantee him $8.5MM over two years. He will make $2.25MM in 2023 and then Jays will then have the option of triggering a $27MM option for the next three years, with up to $1MM in bonuses. If they decline, Green’s player option for 2024 will be for $6.25MM with $2MM in bonuses. If he declines that, the Jays can trigger a two-year, $21MM option with $1MM in bonuses. Since player options are considered guaranteed, the $8.5MM figure comes from the 2023 salary and 2024 player option. Green is a Frontline client.

Green, 32 in May, has been serving as a quality reliever for the Yankees for the past seven seasons but was sidelined in May of last year and underwent Tommy John surgery shortly thereafter. This deal provides both parties with a bit security for the future. If Green comes back healthy and looks like his old self, the Jays can get some long-term value out of their investment by keeping him around for future seasons. If Green should suffer some kind of setback or struggle to get back on track in his return, he will at least be able to lock in some salary for 2024.

An 11th round draft pick of the Tigers in 2013, Green and Luis Cessa went to the Yankees in the December 2015 trade that sent Justin Wilson to Detroit. He was primarily a starter at that time and made his MLB debut in 2016 in a swing capacity. That was essentially the end of his time as a true starter, as the Yanks converted him to relief on a full-time basis. He did make one start in 2017 and 15 in 2019, but those were of the “opener” variety, none of them longer than two innings.

Since making that transition, he has somewhat quietly been one of the most effective relievers in the league. Over the past six major league seasons, he’s pitched 338 innings over 260 total appearances with a 2.96 ERA, striking out 33.4% of batters faced while walking just 6.1%. Among relievers to throw over 300 innings in that stretch, he ranks fourth in strikeout rate, trailing only elite guys Josh Hader, Edwin Díaz and Liam Hendriks and coming in ahead of Kenley Jansen and Ryan Pressly. Green was never given the closer’s role due to the presence of Aroldis Chapman, tallying just 11 saves in his career so far, but he does have 52 holds.

The Tommy John surgery was quite poorly timed for Green, as he was just a few months away from qualifying for free agency. He would have been one of the top relievers this offseason if not for that. However, if he can return to the mound and post results similar to those already on his track record, he’ll still wind up with a nice payday. After making $2.25MM this year, if he Jays pick up that three-year option, he’ll get to $29.25MM in earnings. That’ll be just a bit shy of some other deals for notable relievers this offseason, such as the $32MM for Jansen, $33MM for Taylor Rogers and $34.5MM for Rafael Montero.

For the Jays, this won’t affect their bullpen immediately but it will potentially give them a boost at some point later this year. They will likely have Jordan Romano in the closer’s role, with other high-leverage jobs going to pitchers like Yimi García, Erik Swanson, Anthony Bass and Tim Mayza. Once Green is able to return, he will jump into the mix with that group. The Jays will now have two pitchers potentially bolstering their staff midway through the upcoming campaign, as Hyun Jin Ryu also underwent TJS last year and is targeting a return around the All-Star break.

Financially, this nudges the Jays slightly farther into luxury tax territory. Roster Resource now pegs their competitive balance tax figure at $246MM, about $13MM beyond the $233MM threshold. As a first-time payor in the lowest tax bracket, the club is subject to a 20% tax on its overages, currently just over $2.5MM.

Michael Marino of Fantrax first reported the Jays and Green were in agreement. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet for had the $8.5MM guarantee and presence of options for 2025 and 2026, as well as later adding the breakdown of the options (Twitter links). Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first added the complex option framework and that Green passed his physical (Twitter links).

Blue Jays Add Jeff Ware To MLB Coaching Staff

By | at

The Blue Jays announced this afternoon that Jeff Ware has been added to the coaching staff as an assistant to pitching coach Pete Walker with focus on the bullpen. Meanwhile, David Howell is moving from pitching strategist to assistant pitching/strategy coach.

Ware replaces Matt Buschmann, the former bullpen coach who departed the organization two weeks ago. The 52-year-old has coached in the Toronto farm system since 2014. He opened last year as pitching coach with their top affiliate in Buffalo. Midseason, Ware took over the Buffalo dugout as the Bisons’ interim manager when skipper Casey Candaele was called up as Jays’ interim bench coach after Toronto’s managerial change from Charlie Montoyo to John Schneider.

Howell, headed into his second season on an MLB staff, is just 25 years old. A graduate of the University of Minnesota in 2018, he spent a year as a graduate assistant at LSU before joining the Blue Jays in 2020. He spent that season working with minor league pitchers at the alternate training site and the ’21 campaign at the team’s rookie complex before making the jump to the majors.

The rest of the Jays’ staff has already been finalized. Schneider signed a three-year contract as manager and is headed into his first full season as an MLB skipper. He tabbed longtime manager Don Mattingly as his bench coach, while Walker and Guillermo Martinez are back as pitching and hitting coach, respectively. Keegan Matheson of MLB.com lists the entirety of the Jays’ 14-man staff.

Blue Jays Designate Matt Gage For Assignment

By | at

The Blue Jays have designated reliever Matt Gage for assignment, the club announced. The move opens a 40-man roster spot for Chad Green, who has officially signed his two-year deal.

Gage, 30 next month, played eight seasons in the minor leagues after entering the professional ranks as a 10th-round pick of the Giants in 2014. Signed to a minor league contract by the Jays last offseason, the Siena product had a breakout year for Triple-A Buffalo. He worked to a 2.34 ERA over 42 1/3 innings of relief for the Bisons, striking out 27.4% of opponents with a 47% grounder rate. Gage’s 9.5% walk percentage was the only yellow flag, though that was just a hair north of average.

That production earned him his first major league call last June. He got into 11 MLB games, working 13 innings of four-run ball. Gage induced grounders on half the batted balls he allowed. The 6’3″ hurler had a modest 12:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his limited big league time but induced swinging strikes on over 14% of his pitches. He relied on a low-90s four-seam and a mid-80s cutter during his big league work.

Gage held left-handed hitters to a laughable .086/.149/.111 line in 88 Triple-A plate appearances last year. Righties hit .271 with a .363 on-base percentage but only mustered a .355 slugging mark. That could appeal to clubs looking to stockpile left-handed relief depth. Gage has two minor league option years remaining, so any team willing to keep him on the 40-man roster could stash him in Triple-A for the foreseeable future. The Jays will have a week to deal him or look to run him through waivers.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top