Feb. 9: The Blue Jays have announced the signing.
Feb. 8, 8:54pm: Axford has indeed agreed to a minor league contract with an invite to Major League Spring Training, tweets Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.
7:46pm: The Blue Jays and free-agent right-hander John Axford are in agreement on a contract, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). The Canadian-born Axford is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council. Details of the arrangement aren’t yet clear, though given his rough 2017 season, it’s possible that Axford agreed to a minor league pact with a Spring Training invite.
Axford, 34, struggled with the A’s last season in the second year of a two-year, $10MM contract, pitching to a 6.43 ERA with a 21-to-17 K/BB ratio in 21 innings out of the Oakland ’pen before being designated for assignment and released. However, he’s a year removed from a solid 3.97 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and 0.82 HR/9 with a 54.2 percent ground-ball rate through 65 2/3 innings in 2016.
Those numbers are largely in line with the overall production that Axford posted from 2013-16 in 241 innings with the Brewers, Cardinals, Indians, Pirates, Rockies and A’s. Axford has long shown the ability to miss bats (career 10.2 K/9) but has also had some longstanding issues in finding the strike zone with regularity (4.6 BB/9). His penchant for racking up strikeouts has led to multiple stints as a closer, as he’s saved 144 games in the Majors, including a 2011 campaign in which he led the National League with 46 saves for Milwaukee.
[Related: Toronto Blue Jays depth chart]
If he ultimately joins the Toronto relief corps, Axford would add an experienced arm to a group that largely lacks a track record. Roberto Osuna, of course, has emerged as one of the game’s top young relievers, and southpaw Aaron Loup has more than five years of big league service time under his belt. But, right-hander Ryan Tepera is the only other reliever on the roster with more than two full years of big league service time.
Joe Biagini, Carlos Ramirez, Danny Barnes, Matt Dermody and Tim Mayza are all 40-man options, but Biagini is the most experienced of the bunch and has not yet established himself in the Majors after a rocky 2017 campaign (mostly spent in the rotation). The Jays do have some veteran options that’ll be in camp as non-roster invitees this spring, including Al Alburquerque and and Jake Petricka (who reportedly agreed to a minor league deal earlier today).
Jays are signing all the pieces of crap available.
Who else will close when Osuna is traded?
Maybe Petricka
Why would Osuna be traded?
Who else will close when Osuna is traded?
They would find a closer if Osuna was traded. It wouldn’t matter much at that point because the Jays are rebuilding so they wouldn’t need an elite guy, usually a minor leaguer/failed starter can fill in for that role until an elite one is internally developed or reacquired once the team is back into a championship run caliber.
Osuna will not be traded…….how stupid are you guys
Of course he won’t be traded, Shapiro and Atkins don’t have the guts to do that, even though a total rebuild is necessary. So we will see Osuna as a Jay for the whole 2018, even though the Jays have virtually no shot at winning anything.
Osuna is 23. No need to trade him, rebuild or not.
Straus: I bet you were an awesome, not piece of crap athlete in high school, huh?
you sure he made it out of little league?
Why not? It’s not like there’s a lot of risk with a signing like this. Try to clean them up as much as you can in spring training and if they stink at the end then dfa them.
Yeah! Exactly! Plus he’s a Canadian. He comes from a town just over 1.5 hours from TO. He would get a standing O even if he showed up at the ballpark. It’s great for marketing.
Always amusing when a new fan like @strauss gets mad at minor league signings as if they’re ever bad.
It’s a minor league signing, which all MLB do so this isn’t something that’s new. First year at following baseball?
They signed 2 guys to minor league deals, there is absolutely zero risk involved, there’s no reason to be upset by these signings
they should sign your comment
Canadian
Best movie reviewer in the league!
He was thriving as the Rockies closer for half a year and then he becomes a 7th Inning guy for the A’s and crumbles again
There was some hope coming off that 2015 season with The Rocks, with his 2.70 ERA away, as opposed to his 5.59 ERA away. Maybe he succeeds best when he’s in the closer’s role.
Jimmer, add another one to the list.
Yah cj, that is what the Jays are doing. I hope they don’t have to depend on these minor signings as important pieces on the MLB roster.
This is not looking pretty.
Sad part is, you know they will have to
good luck with him..lol
Reclimated reliever ramps up remarkably to reload raunchy remembrance of reasonably respected relief responses.
You really rocked responding
Right?!
Man with all these minor league signings the number of free agents available must be lower than a 100 now……can’t wait for the MLBPA to scream the owners are colluding to lower the number of free agents by signing all these minor league deals to make them look bad.
One of 10 million relievers who had a good season or two and then flames out. If you have a relief pitcher who is consist year in and year out you keep them unless you are selling
So keep them or sell them, it doesn’t really matter. Proof that relievers are the most overrated players in the game right there.
There are some like hader and chad green who are extremely valuable multi inning weapons though and the established ones who make a huge difference but I do get where you are coming from
Agreed Yankee. If the team really wants to win. the Jays clearly do not want to win. They are not all-in trying to win this year.
jimmertee: “the Jays clearly do not want to win.”
#psychicthirdeye
Don’t mind this one bit. Jays have had some success with veteran relievers in recent years(Grilli, Benoit, Darren Oliver, LaTroy Hawkins and Joe Smith last year).
Yah but remember the alsorands and terrible pitchers the jays had to “try” to get the list u mentioned. It means no compete.
Jimmertee, the Jays have added more players to the projected 25-man roster than anyone in the AL East (per Roster Resource).
And don’t look now, but Fangraphs projects the Jays at 85 wins, one game behind the Angels, who are in the second wild card. Early in the offseason, the Jays were six games behind the Angels.
How many teams in the AL have done more than the Jays to improve their team? The Yankees got Stanton. The Angels got Ohtani, Cozart and Kinsler. Anyone else doing anything?
#closedscoutseyes
Ok…and that’s what Spring Training is about. All teams have minor league signings and compete in the Spring.
You keep claiming you were a former “scout” jimmertree. You should know this…
#fakescout
Well the jays are just the bell of the ball today, but only in a minor way
My client BRRRROOOOCCCCKKK LLLLEEEESSSSNNNAAAARRRR thinks this a decent minor league deal signing.
There is no risk at all in this signing. If Axford pitches well, it is a low cost addition to the bullpen. If he stinks, then the Jays just don’t sign him to a major league contract. It doesn’t hurt to give him a look in Spring Training.
They need arms to throw BP, and catchers to catch BP. That’s Spring Training.
Greg Holland is the next reliever the Jays are signing.
Axford has big league stuff but continually pitches behind in the count. Not agressive enough with the fastball,
His problem is keeping that fastball down or up, goes through streaks where he can’t throw his breaking ball for a strike and then hitters sit on the fastball that comes grooving down center/center.
The last four articles here have been about John Axford, Sergio Romo, Derek Holland and Andrew Cashner. Can you imagine what a huge signing day that would have been a few years ago?
Too bad he isn’t a closer anymore, in Milwaukee he used to come out of the bullpen for the 9th to one of the greatest punk rock songs of all time. New Noise by Refused blasting as loud as Hell’s Bells by ACDC for Hoffman was a fun time.
I’m shocked the A’s didn’t through another 10m at him