The Blue Jays have designated Jimmy Paredes for assignment, the Toronto Star’s Brendan Kennedy reports (Twitter link). In a corresponding move, righty reliever Ryan Tepera was called up from Triple-A.
Toronto claimed Paredes off waivers from the Orioles two weeks ago. He hit quite well (.267/.353/.533) over 17 plate appearances and also filled in around the diamond for the Jays, making one start each at second, third and DH while also appearing in right field for a game. As MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm tweets, however, the Jays needed an extra reliever for their struggling bullpen and other infield bench candidates like Ryan Goins or Darwin Barney are needed with Troy Tulowitzki on the DL.
Paredes has never exhibited much defensive value despite his versatility over his six years in the majors, and he owns a .257/.294/.373 slash line over 862 PA with Toronto, Baltimore, Kansas City and Houston. The 27-year-old was originally signed by the Yankees in 2006, and notably dealt along with Mark Melancon to the Astros in the July 2010 trade deadline deal that brought Lance Berkman to New York.