The Toronto Blue Jays are hoping to follow up their trip all the way to Game 7 of the latest World Series with another deep run next season.
After locking in their franchise slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with a monumental extension and receiving news that former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber would opt back into his own deal, the Blue Jays surprised much of the baseball world by signing Dylan Cease to a $210 million contract. That was a clear sign that the team would be a threat to land any number of other high-priced additions this winter, but its most recent move was a surprising bit of subtraction.
“RHP Yariel Rodriguez has cleared outright assignment waivers and has been outrighted off the 40-man roster,” the team announced on X, formerly Twitter.
Evidently, no other team claimed Rodriguez when he was placed on waivers and the team has removed him from its big-league roster even though there was no corresponding replacement announced. The decision to effectively move on from Rodriguez, at least for now, was a surprise given that he is going into his third year of the five-year, $32 million contract he signed with the Blue Jays.
And it wasn’t as if Rodriguez had taken a significant step back in the second year of that deal. He posted a 3.08 ERA with 17 games finished in this past campaign, compared to a 4.47 ERA with no closing opportunities in his rookie season the year before.
“He was also included on the Blue Jays’ rosters for both the ALDS and ALCS,” Mark Polishuk wrote for MLB Trade Rumors. “However, the outright clearly puts Rodriguez in line as something of a secondary option within Toronto’s bullpen plans, and likely makes him a trade candidate for the remainder of the winter.”
The Blue Jays’ decision on Rodriguez might have been driven by some confidence about an impending bullpen addition. And, given the team’s aggressive stance so far this winter, fans can hope that might include a new high-leverage reliever like Edwin Diaz or Robert Suarez.
But Rodriguez’s replacement might already be on the Blue Jays’ roster. After the team confirmed Bieber’s return and signed Cease, it also added Cody Ponce and now could have a six-man rotation.
Re-assigning a player like Jose Berrios or Eric Lauer to replace Rodriguez could be under consideration next. Meanwhile, it seems unlikely that the Blue Jays will get much trade interest on Rodriguez, given that no other club was willing to pick up the remainder of his contract after he was placed on waivers.
