RSS Blue Jays Team Notes

[Toronto Blue Jays]

Blue Jays Sign Jesse Hahn To Minors Deal

The Blue Jays announced that right-hander Jesse Hahn has been signed to a minor league contract. The deal includes an invitation for Hahn to attend Toronto’s big league Spring Training camp.

While Hahn is a veteran of eight Major League seasons, 286 of his 316 1/3 career innings came during the 2014-17 seasons. Since that four-year stretch with the Padres and Athletics, Hahn has a 4.75 ERA across 30 1/3 innings, and he didn’t see any MLB action at all in three seasons (2018, 2022, and 2023) due to arm injuries, plus he spent the 2024 campaign entirely in the minors.

Hahn finally made his return to the Show last year in the form of three games and five innings with the Mariners, and he was twice designated for assignment and then outrighted off Seattle’s 40-man roster. Pitching primarily with Triple-A Tacoma, Hahn’s minor league numbers in 2025 included a 5.85 ERA, 22.4% strikeout rate, and 10.5% walk rate. The righty also posted a big 61.8% grounder rate, though a .361 BABIP offset Hahn’s ability to keep the ball on the ground.

A grounder-heavy approach is Hahn’s biggest plus at this stage of his career, as the 36-year-old been beset by control problems (at times quite extreme) over the last several seasons at both the MLB and minor league levels. Hahn’s return to the big leagues after a three-year absence saw him retain his 95mph sinker as his primary pitch, and his slider replaced his change as his secondary pitch.

Toronto’s bullpen is more or less set heading into Opening Day, so Hahn is likely just a depth arm the Jays are looking to stash at Triple-A. The right-hander does bring experience and some innings-eating ability, which is a plus on a Blue Jays team that put a lot of extra miles on its relief corps during last season’s run to the World Series.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/02/blue-jays-sign-jesse-hahn-to-minors-deal.html

 

[Toronto Blue Jays]

Blue Jays Claim Ben Cowles

The Blue Jays announced that they have claimed infielder Ben Cowles off waivers from the Cubs. Chicago had designated him for assignment a few days ago when they signed Shelby Miller. Toronto has placed Bowden Francis on the 60-day injured list to open a spot for this claim.

Cowles, 26, is still looking to make his major league debut. The Cubs added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2024 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He was kept in the minors on optional assignment until being designated for assignment in early September. He went to the White Sox via waivers but then the Cubs claimed him back in January. Now the Cubs have lost him via the wire a second time.

He has a decent floor as a speed-and-defense type. He has lots of minor league experience at the three infield spots to the left of first base. He has posted double-digit stolen base totals in each of the past four minor league seasons.

The bat is more of a question mark. He had a really good year at the plate in 2024, slashing .286/.372/.457 at the Double-A level for a 141 wRC+. The Cubs acquired him from the Yankees that summer as part of the Mark Leiter Jr. trade and then gave him a roster spot at season’s end. His 2025 was far less impressive, as he slashed .235/.300/.371 at the Triple-A level for a 71 wRC+. Though he had drawn walks at a 10.4% rate in 2024, that figure dropped to 7.2% last year. His strikeout rate also jumped from 17.7% to 28.8%.

That dip at the plate has pushed Cowles to the waiver wire a few times but clubs clearly still like the profile enough to keep picking him up. For the Jays, they had a roster spot to use since Francis is going to miss 2026 due to Tommy John surgery, so they’ve used it to add some infield depth.

It’s possible Cowles ends up back on waivers at some point, but for now, he provides the Jays with some optionable depth for an infield that should look different than last year. Bo Bichette departed via free agency, signing with the Mets. Andrés Giménez should take over the shortstop job, as he did while Bichette was hurt late in 2025. Ernie Clement will likely become the regular at second base. The Jays signed Kazuma Okamoto to cover third base, which should push Addison Barger into a more regular corner outfield role. Davis Schneider should be on the bench in a short-side platoon role, able to play second base or an outfield corner.

Leo Jiménez is still on the 40-man roster but is out of options, meaning he’d need to be kept on the big league squad or passed through waivers. Since Cowles still has options, that could give him a leg up over Jiménez in hanging onto a roster spot as a depth infielder.

As for Francis, he’ll spend the entire season on the 60-day IL. No pitcher wants to miss an entire season but the upside is that he’ll collect a full year of big league pay and service time. He’ll cross three years of service this year and will be eligible for arbitration going into 2026, but he’ll be a non-tender candidate after so much missed time. He also missed the second half of 2025 due to a shoulder impingement.

Photo courtesy of Cody Scanlen, Imagn Images

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/02/blue-jays-claim-ben-cowles.html

 

[Toronto Blue Jays]

Poll: Which Team Had The Best Offseason?

The offseason has more or less come to a close at this point. While a handful of players remain available in free agency and there’s always a chance of a surprise trade or two throughout Spring Training, the vast majority of the heavy lifting has been done. As Spring Training begins, it’s worth checking in on what teams around the league did this winter to see which club had the strongest offseason. A look at a few of the candidates:

Baltimore Orioles

After a disastrous 2025 season that saw the club fall to the basement of the American League, the Orioles have been very busy in their efforts to turn things around. A rotation that struggled to stay above water last year saw the return of Zach Eflin as well as the additions of both Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt. Those additions may not have included the front-of-the-rotation ace the Orioles were widely expected to pursue, but the club was aggressive elsewhere on the roster. Ryan Helsley was brought in to close while Felix Bautista is injured, and the club swung a deal for Taylor Ward to help round out their outfield. By far the biggest addition of the winter, however, was slugger Pete Alonso, who signed a five-year, $155MM contract. Alonso adds a legitimate 40-homer threat to the middle of a lineup that struggled to generate much offense outside of Gunnar Henderson last year and was heavily slanted toward lefty hitters.

Chicago Cubs

It’s rare that a team would be in this conversation after losing the offseason’s top-ranked free agent, but there’s a lot to like about the 2026 Cubs even after bidding farewell to Kyle Tucker. Alex Bregman, signed to a five-year, $175MM deal, can’t be expected to be the same offensive force as peak-level Tucker, but he makes up for that by helping to complete what’s arguably become the best defensive infield in baseball alongside Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner, and Michael Busch. The move pushes Matt Shaw into a utility role, where he can serve as protection against injury for the club while also potentially sharing time with fellow youngster Moises Ballesteros at DH. The addition of Bregman was complemented by the decision to swing a trade for high-upside righty Edward Cabrera in the rotation. That likely pushes swingman Colin Rea back into a bullpen that’s been rebuilt with Phil Maton, Hunter Harvey, and Hoby Milner after losing Brad Keller, Andrew Kittredge, and Drew Pomeranz back in November.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers’ offseason hasn’t been an exceptionally busy one, but the few moves they wound up making could prove to be the most impactful of any team this winter. They kicked off their offseason by poaching star closer Edwin Diaz away from the Mets, but their biggest splash was the addition of Tucker to their outfield. Diaz and Tucker are both All-Stars with among the highest ceilings in the game at their respective positions. Adding both to an already star-studded roster, the Dodgers managed to address the 2025 team’s biggest weaknesses: a lackluster outfield and a leaky bullpen. They also extended Max Muncy on an affordable one-year deal and reunited with Kiké Hernandez and Evan Phillips. After back-to-back World Series championships, the Dodgers look even better headed into 2026 despite their relatively low volume of transactions.

New York Mets

While the Dodgers mostly kept their 2025 team intact for 2026 with just a few additions, the Mets went in the opposite direction with a complete roster overhaul. Out went Alonso, Diaz, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil. Replacing them is a host of talent ranging from new staff ace Freddy Peralta to relievers Devin Williams and Luke Weaver on the pitching side, and a cluster of position players headlined by star infielder Bo Bichette. In addition to Bichette, who’ll move to third base alongside shortstop Francisco Lindor, the team brought in Marcus Semien to handle the keystone, Jorge Polanco to cover first base, and Luis Robert Jr. to work in center field. It’s a busy offseason that completely changed the look of the team that failed to make the playoffs last year, though it remains to be seen if this team will better support Lindor and Juan Soto in their pursuit of a World Series championship.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays finished just shy of a World Series championship last year, and this winter they acted like a team that wanted to leave no stone unturned in their efforts to close the gap. A new-look rotation added Dylan Cease at the front and Cody Ponce at the back. A lineup that lost Bichette in free agency looked to make up for it by bringing in Kazuma Okamoto and Jesus Sanchez. Meanwhile, the team’s shaky bullpen upgraded from hard-throwing righty Seranthony Dominguez by bringing in ever-reliable soft-tosser Tyler Rogers. Missing out on both Bichette and Tucker takes some of the punch out of Toronto’s offseason, but adding Cease to a rotation that already includes Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, and Trey Yesavage should make the Jays significantly more threatening than they already were last year.

Other Options

Plenty of teams had offseasons worthy of praise aside from the five listed above. The Tigers managed to snag arguably the top pitcher available in lefty Framber Valdez on a short-term deal while also reuniting with future Hall of Famer and Detroit legend Justin Verlander, though failing to upgrade the lineup is surely disappointing for fans hoping to see the team make the most of Tarik Skubal’s likely last year in town.

The Red Sox were very busy this winter as they brought in Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo, Willson Contreras, and Caleb Durbin via the trade market while signing Ranger Suarez and Isiah Kiner-Falefa in free agency, but the team’s failure to reunite with Bregman casts a shadow over their busy winter.

The Astros got the rotation depth they coveted, signing NPB star Tatsuya Imai to a three-year deal with multiple opt-outs and acquiring righty Mike Burrows in a three-team trade that sent outfielder Jacob Melton to the Rays. They’re still too right-handed and have a glut of infielders that could still lead to one more big spring trade.

The Pirates were very active by their usual standards, overhauling the lineup to bring in Ryan O’Hearn, Marcell Ozuna, and Brandon Lowe among others. The Rangers came into the winter without much room to add but managed to come away with a solid bat (Nimmo) for the lineup and a big arm (MacKenzie Gore) for the rotation nonetheless. The Mariners kept Josh Naylor and added Brendan Donovan to the infield. The A’s added only complementary pieces (McNeil, Aaron Civale) in terms of external additions but deserve praise for their franchise-altering extensions of Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson.

On the flipside, the rebuilding Cardinals managed to shed significant portions of the Contreras, Gray and Nolan Arenado contracts and pulled in a nice return from the Mariners (and Rays) in the three-team Donovan trade.

What team do MLBTR’s readers think had the best offseason this winter? Have your say in the poll below:

Which team had the best offseason?​

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Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/02/poll-which-team-had-the-best-offseason.html

 

[Toronto Blue Jays]

AL East Notes: Chisholm, Palacios, Kiner-Falefa, Bieber

Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. is open to extension talks but still hasn’t been approached by the club in that department, he tells Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Chisholm is entering his final year of club control before he’s slated for free agency.

It’s a similar situation to last year, when it seemed Chisholm was more open to talks than the club. Spring training is a common time for clubs to approach players about extensions, so it’s notable that there’s still no momentum in that department.

The Yankees don’t do many extensions in general and may prefer to wait things out in the middle infield. A year from now, it’s possible that prospect George Lombard Jr. has joined Anthony Volpe and José Caballero in the mix. If the Yanks can cover their middle infield spots internally, then they could focus next winter’s resources elsewhere. If not, they could pivot back to Chisholm as a free agent.

Some more camp notes from around the A.L. East…

• The Rays are going to get Richie Palacios some third base reps this spring, reports Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. Palacios has mostly played second base and the outfield corners in his career. His third base experience consists of ten innings in 2024. Adding some more versatility could help him carve out a bench role, though he does have an option remaining. Junior Caminero will be Tampa’s regular at third but his defensive grades weren’t great, so it could make sense for him to occasionally serve as the designated hitter or be replaced by a better defender late in some games.
• The Red Sox are going to have Isiah Kiner-Falefa play some first base in spring, reports Sean McAdam of MassLive. Kiner-Falefa has loads of experience at every position on the diamond except for first base. The Sox have Willson Contreras as their regular first baseman but the depth is banged up. Triston Casas ruptured his left patellar tendon last year and may not be reading for Opening Day. Romy González is also questionable for the opener due to a shoulder injury that recently required a platelet-rich plasma injection. Kiner-Falefa may not be needed there much due to the presence of Contreras but injuries can happen at any time and Kiner-Falefa also mentioned the possibility of pinch running for Contreras on occasion.
• The Blue Jays may be getting Shane Bieber back sooner than expected, according to manager John Schneider (link via Keegan Matheson of MLB.com). Schneider said that Bieber is “feeling good” throwing from 120 feet and might throw off a mound within two weeks. Last week, it was reported that Bieber would begin the season on the injured list out of an abundance of caution due to forearm fatigue. This update may not change that timeline, but the team has enough rotation depth to take it slow with his ramp-up regardless. A healthy Bieber would slot in behind Dylan Cease, Trey Yesavage, and Kevin Gausman in the Jays’ rotation. For now, Cody Ponce and Jose Berrios round out the group.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/02/al-east-notes-chisholm-palacios-kiner-falefa-bieber.html

 

[Toronto Blue Jays]

Blue Jays In Talks With Max Scherzer

The Blue Jays have maintained some interest in Max Scherzer throughout the winter, and talks between the two sides have become more serious over the past week, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. There’s no deal in place, and there are still other clubs hoping to sign the future Hall of Famer, but Toronto has apparently hastened its efforts to get the three-time Cy Young winner back to the Rogers Centre.

Scherzer, 41, spent the 2025 season with the Jays after signing a one-year, $15.5MM deal in free agency last winter. Repeated injuries pertaining to his thumb and a nerve in his right arm limited 85 big league innings in the regular season, during which he posted a career-worst 5.19 ERA. However, Scherzer still fanned a roughly average 22.9% of opponents against a tidy 6.4% walk rate. His 10.7% swinging-strike rate was down about three ticks from his career mark but was closely aligned with the 11% league average.

Much of the damage against Scherzer came in one nightmare start, where he surrendered seven runs in two-thirds of an inning in his penultimate appearance of the season. He had a 4.48 ERA across his other 16 starts. Obviously, any pitcher looks better if you toss out his worst appearance of a season, and even that 4.48 mark isn’t great, but Scherzer was at least serviceable for much of the season and looked better in the playoffs, when he made three starts and posted a 3.77 ERA in 14 1/3 innings.

The Jays already have ample rotation depth. Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Trey Yesavage, Jose Berrios and KBO returnee Cody Ponce will open the season in the rotation, health permitting. Righty Shane Bieber is back on a one-year deal after forgoing free agency in favor of picking up his $16MM player option, but he’ll open the season on the injured list due to some forearm fatigue. The team is framing that as a matter of precaution after Bieber pitched 88 innings and worked deep into the postseason in his return from Tommy John surgery, but it’s still a notable development — as is the fact that one of the team’s top depth options, Bowden Francis, will miss the year due to Tommy John surgery.

With Toronto’s rotation depth taking those two hits in the past 10 days, it’s understandable if they’ve ramped up their efforts to bring in some further depth. An exact plan remains to be seen, assuming a deal comes together, that is. Nicholson-Smith suggests the Jays could possibly ease Scherzer up with a slow build, eyeing a season debut in late April or early May.

Price point will matter on any deal for Scherzer, particularly if the idea is for him to be on a slow progression early in the season. The Jays are in the top tier of luxury penalization and are exceeding the base threshold for a third straight season. They’ll pay a 110% tax on whatever money is paid out to Scherzer, which is a notable consideration for a team that’s already in line to establish a new franchise-record payroll by more than $30MM.

Still, there’s good reason to consider the depth in spite of the resulting tax bill. With Francis out for the season and Bieber opening on the IL, the sixth starter is Eric Lauer, who enjoyed a resurgent year with the Jays in 2025. He’ll open in a swing role, barring another injury to the top five arms, but depth options thereafter are murky.

Former top prospect Ricky Tiedemann should be healthy but hasn’t pitched since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2024 — a season in which he totaled only 17 1/3 innings. Prospect Adam Macko struggled with poor command and posted an ERA over 5.00 in Triple-A last year. Righty Lazaro Estrada made his big league debut last year but was hit hard in 7 1/3 frames and logged a 5.73 ERA in the minors. Righties Angel Bastardo and Spencer Miles are also on the 40-man roster but are subject to Rule 5 restrictions. Bastardo was selected in 2024 but missed the 2025 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He can’t be optioned to Triple-A before spending 90 days on the active roster. It’ll be hard for the Jays to carry either. Non-roster options in camp include Yariel Rodriguez, whom the Jays passed through waivers in December, and journeymen Connor Seabold and Michael Plassmeyer.

It’s not an especially deep or appealing set of depth options, and if Bieber winds up missing more time than expected and/or the Jays incur another injury on the big league staff, the depth will be tested in a hurry. In that sense, whether it’s a one-year reunion with Scherzer or a non-roster deal for a veteran like Anthony DeSclafani, bringing in some additional depth would be prudent for the Jays.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/02/blue-jays-rumors-max-scherzer-talks-serious.html

 

[Toronto Blue Jays]

Yimi Garcia Won’t Be Ready For Blue Jays’ Opening Day Roster

Yimi Garcia’s 2025 season was prematurely ended last September by surgery to fix scar tissue in his throwing elbow. The right-hander’s recovery progress will stretch into at least the first bit of the 2026 campaign, as Garcia told Sportnet’s Shi Davidi that he will “100 percent” not be ready to pitch when the Blue Jays begin play on March 27.

It doesn’t appear as though Garcia will miss too much time, even if he does start the season on the 15-day injured list. “I feel good right now, I feel better than last season,” Garcia said, and he expects to start throwing off a mound perhaps as early as this week. Still, since the veteran reliever is “a little behind” in his throwing progression, it appears Garcia and the Jays are playing the long game in making sure he is fully ready for the coming season, even if that means some missed time in March and April.

To his chagrin, Garcia has been a frequent visitor to the IL in the last two seasons, as a variety of injuries have limited the righty to 61 appearances and 60 innings pitched for the Blue Jays and Mariners in 2024-25. Garcia missed time in 2024 with both neuritis and inflammation in his right elbow, and he was limited by a shoulder impingement (leading to a 60-day IL stint) and a sprained left ankle in 2025. Garcia hasn’t pitched since July 2, as his elbow issues resurfaced while he was rehabbing his ankle sprain.

All of these injuries would be a concern for any pitcher, especially a veteran like Garcia who is turning 36 this August. Garcia has still been pretty effective when he has been able to pitch, posting a 3.60 ERA and 30.5% strikeout rate over his last 60 IP. His walk rate did take a big leap upwards from 7.8% in 2024 to 13.3% in 2025, which could be viewed as an injury-related outlier given how Garcia’s previous career high BB% was 8.3%, and that came over 15 innings during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

The Blue Jays dealt Garcia to the Mariners at the 2024 trade deadline, and despite his elbow issues, Toronto felt comfortable enough to bring the reliever back on a two-year, $15MM free agent deal last winter. It is quite possible that having a healthy Garcia in the bullpen might’ve put the Blue Jays over the top in the World Series, and the team is again viewing him as a key piece of the late-game mix. When healthy, Garcia will join postseason workhorse Louis Varland and new signing Tyler Rogers as the top set-up options to closer Jeff Hoffman.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026...e-ready-for-blue-jays-opening-day-roster.html

 

[Toronto Blue Jays]

Blue Jays Notes: Schneider, Varsho, Jimenez

John Schneider has “had some discussions about” a long-term extension with the Blue Jays, the manager told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. Schneider is entering the final year of his current contract, and “if there’s a way to do [an extension] for both sides that makes sense, that’d be great….We’ll continue to talk and there’s no place I’d rather be than with this group.”

Promoted from bench coach to interim manager after Charlie Montoyo was fired midway through the 2022 season, Schneider led that year’s Jays team to a wild card berth, which earned him a three-year deal to remain as the team’s full-time skipper. That contract included a club option for the 2026 season, which the Jays naturally exercised last November in the wake of Toronto’s run to Game 7 of the World Series.

The Jays have a 303-257 record under Schneider, and the team has reached the postseason three times in his four seasons. The one non-playoff year came in 2024 when the Blue Jays struggled to a 74-88 record, and there was plenty of speculation heading into the 2025 campaign about whether or not Toronto needed a change in the dugout and/or in the front office. Winning the AL pennant naturally changed that conversation in a hurry, leaving Schneider and GM Ross Atkins looking like extension candidates.

It wouldn’t at all be a surprise if Schneider and Atkins both had new deals signed before Opening Day, though it would be a real eye-opener if Daulton Varsho was extended as he heads into his final season before free agency. This isn’t a reflection on how the Jays feel about Varsho, but rather the fact that Varsho is represented by Scott Boras, whose clients almost always test the open market rather than opt for extensions.

Atkins has said in the past that the Jays have interest in extending Varsho, though the outfielder didn’t even confirm that any talks had taken place when speaking with the Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm and other reporters earlier this week.

“I stay out of those [extension] conversations, I don’t want to be in them,” Varsho said, noting that he leaves such business to his representation. Varsho did express an interest in remaining with the Jays, saying “I love being here. They treat families really well and they do everything to kind of keep players here…I’ve enjoyed my time. I’m going to keep enjoying it.”

Another obstacle between Varsho and an extension could be the fact that signing a deal now might result in a lot of money left on the table. As Chisholm notes, a healthy and consistent 2026 campaign could put Varsho in line for a major free agent payday next winter, so it could be in his interest to use 2026 as a platform year.

Varsho is arguably the best defensive center fielder in baseball, and he has hit 85 homers over the last four seasons. However, his .225/.292/.432 slash line since the start of the 2022 season translates to an exact 100 wRC+, as Varsho’s lack of walks and penchant for strikeouts have offset his power potential. He was also limited to 71 games in 2025 — Varsho missed time due to recovery from a September 2024 rotator cuff surgery, and then a hamstring strain that cost him two months of regular-season action.

In other news around the Blue Jays’ spring camp, MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson writes that minor league signing Eloy Jimenez “has been spending a lot of time at first base.” Jimenez never played first base during his first big league seasons with the White Sox and Orioles from 2019-24, but he logged seven games at the position in 2025 when playing in the Blue Jays’ and Rays’ farm system, and he also saw some first base action in Winter League ball.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is obviously locked into the starting first base job in Toronto and the Jays added some more depth at the position by signing Juan Yepez to a minors deal last week. However, the Jays don’t have a set backup in place behind Guerrero, as Kazuma Okamoto is expected to primarily play third base. Becoming a regular first baseman could help Jimenez’s slim chances of cracking the Blue Jays’ roster, and a move to first base is a logical career path anyway given how Jimenez’s defensive struggles in the outfield led to an increased amount of DH at-bats during his time in Chicago.

Jimenez hit .270/.321/.469 with 94 home runs over 2026 PA with the White Sox from 2019-24, as this solid production nevertheless didn’t live up to the high expectations placed on Jimenez as a top prospect and a ballyhooed international signing. Injuries and a lack of consistency caught up to Jimenez, and he is now looking to reignite his MLB career as he enters his age-29 season.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/02/blue-jays-notes-schneider-varsho-jimenez.html