Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough is going to trigger his upcoming opt-out in his minor league deal with the Blue Jays, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. The team has until 1pm Central on Sunday to decide whether or not to add him to the roster. If they don’t give him a spot, he will become a free agent.
Yarbrough is an Article XX(b) free agent, which is any player with at least six years of service who finished the previous season on a major league roster or injured list. Such players have guaranteed opt-out dates on minor league deals signed at least ten days prior to Opening Day. The first of those opt-out dates is five days prior to Opening Day, which will be tomorrow. The others are May 1 and June 1. When a player triggers an opt-out, the club has 48 hours to decide how to respond.
The lefty has carved out a nice career for himself despite a lack of velo or punchouts. He has 768 big league innings under his belt so far, having allowed 4.21 earned runs per nine. His 18.7% strikeout rate is a few ticks below par but his 5.5% walk rate is quite good and his Statcast page shows that his average exit velocity and hard hit rate are regularly among the best in the league. Some of that work has come as a starter, some as a bulk guy behind an opener and some as a more traditional long reliever.
The Jays got a close-up look at him late last year, acquiring him from the Dodgers in a deadline swap for Kevin Kiermaier. Yarbrough tossed 31 1/3 innings over 12 relief appearances with a 2.01 ERA. He lingered on the market unsigned until the middle of February, when the Jays brought him back via a minor league deal. That deal reportedly pays him $2MM if he cracks the big leagues. In Grapefruit League action, he has tossed 6 2/3 innings, allowed three earned runs, with eight strikeouts and one walk.
The Jays project to have a rotation of José Berríos, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Bowden Francis. If healthy, Max Scherzer would have a spot as well. He’s been dealing with some thumb soreness lately. That doesn’t sound too serious but thumb soreness seemed to be a symptom of a larger nerve problem in his arm last year.
Earlier today, manager John Schneider relayed to reporters that Scherzer will pitch for the Jays against the Twins in Fort Myers tomorrow. Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet was among those to relay the news. The skipper said that Scherzer wanted to make the two-hour bus ride in order to face real major league hitters. His aim is to throw 60 to 65 pitches and be on the roster to start the season if all goes well.
If Scherzer is healthy, then Yariel Rodríguez is likely in the bullpen as the long reliever. If not, then Rodríguez perhaps jumps into that fifth spot. It’s also possible that the Jays would prefer to have Yarbrough as a long man, but with Rodríguez pitching in a more traditional single-inning relief role. He posted a 1.15 ERA in that kind of role in Japan in 2022 but started for the Jays last year, posting a 4.47 ERA.
Perhaps the Jays will hold off making a decision on Yarbrough until they see how Scherzer pitches tomorrow and how he feels the day after. If they decide to add Yarbrough, they will have to make a corresponding move to get him onto the 40-man.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Easy decision, gotta keep him.
I would think so.
I also imagine these guys (or at least their agents) have feelers out and have a good idea they have a landing spot before they trigger these opt outs.
Bubble-type player’s agents are workin’ OT right now, for shizzle.
DFA Yariel Rodriguez to make room for Yarbrough.
It’ll be Pop or Nance before Yariel.
He is locked up for three years, four if he triggers a player option or the jays pick up a team option.
Yeah, let’s pay a guy 4 mil for the next two years to play somewhere else
Have to wonder how a relief pitcher is ready for the season after pitching 6.2 innings and 4 games in a month.
Not specific to Yarbrough, but noticed the same basic thing for Mets’ Danny Young.
They must be throwing a lot of bullpens, but still.
A lot of these guys pitch simulated games on backfields rather than appear in games. Cora loves to do that in with the Sox, though not sure it’s exactly the same as real game action
Blue Jays should keep him. I’d imagine Yarbrough would have plenty of teams interested if he doesn’t stick with the Blue Jays.
*comments closed*
You buncha weak safe space babies
Meh, Urias next contract is either over overseas or south of the border, so it really doesn’t matter
It’s the misogynist cavemen who crave a safe space. They can’t handle being told they are awful.
Oh, yeah. Let’s keep calling all men misogynists. Most overused word of this century.
Pretty sure he wasn’t calling out all men as misogynists.
Just the misogynists.
Terry doesn’t know what he’s saying 99% of the time.
Hard to fathom how a guy like Yarbrough, who actually knows how to pitch in order to get outs, struggles to find employment, yet MLB rosters are crammed full of chuckers who blow their arms to smithereens every 3-4 years.
Once again I disagree with the way fans evaluate pitchers
Who gives a poop how many people he strikes out
I look at his WHIP
this guys WHIP demonstrate to me he knows how to get people OUT
And that’s what pitchers get paid to do, get people OUT without giving up hits
Plus he can be both a starter and a reliever, that’s got a lot of upside.
I might normally find those peripherals concerning, but his career ERA and FIP only differ by about 0.03 so it feels like what he’s doing is sustainable.
How did Lovelady make the team over him
He’s got that sauce that the ladies love!
Lovelady is on the 40-man; he has not made the team…yet. But he got rocked today, so…
Hopefully he does get added. Given that Max is hurting, Francis and Rodriguez are having bad springs it only makes sense.
He provides a lot of flexibility within the pitching staff: Opener to help the less effective starters, relief/long relief, the odd start if an injury pops up.
He may not put up the sexy strikeouts and such, but considering how abysmal last years pen was, and how little they’ve done to improve it, a basic multi tool pitcher like Ryan would be so helpful.
No LH relief depth makes it difficult to part ways with Yarbrough. He won’t be able to go 3-4 innings (yet), but could probably eat 2 innings to start the year. They’ll need it.
Due diligence. He’ll be on the team.
If the Jays let Yarbrough walk, another team could sign him and deploy him in a hyper-specialized role—say, a 3-4 inning “bulk reliever” facing lineups stacked with low-swing-and-miss hitters (e.g., contact-heavy teams like the Guardians or Royals). Pair his 84-87 mph arsenal with a defense optimized for grounders (Toronto’s infield is above-average), and his effective ERA could drop below 3.50, far outpacing his $2MM cost. The Jays might be sleeping on a 1.5-2 WAR player because they’re fixated on Scherzer’s thumb and Rodríguez’s flexibility.