Cole, who turns 30 in January, signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays last winter that ended up paying him a $1MM guaranteed salary when Toronto selected him to its active roster in May.  However, Cole ended up pitching just eight innings, as neck tightness and then an oblique strain resulted in a lengthy stint on the injured list.

By the time Cole’s 30-day rehab assignment period was up, the Jays opted to just outright him to Triple-A, and Cole spent the rest of September in the minors before electing free agency following the season.  He’ll now head to an entirely new environment in NPB, with the intriguing prospect of reviving his fortunes as a starting pitcher.

Cole drew plenty of top-100 prospect attention during his days in the Athletics’ and Nationals’ farm systems, to the point that he was swapped back and forth between the two clubs in a pair of prominent trades.  His stock dimmed after struggling in both the big leagues and at Triple-A, in large part due to an inability to limit home runs.  Cole’s problems with the long ball never truly went away even after becoming a reliever in 2018, but he at least posted some decent bottom-line results and some improved strikeout numbers working out of the bullpen.  After a 4.26 ERA over 38 relief innings with the Yankees in 2018, Cole posted a 3.14 ERA over 57 1/3 frames with Cleveland and Toronto in 2019-21.

Since the start of the 2017 campaign, Cole has a 4.28 ERA, 23.1% strikeout rate, 9.7% walk rate, and a 15% home run rate.  As one might expect, the move to relief pitching helped add a bit of velocity to Cole’s fastball, and he has averaged 93.8mph on his heater over the last four seasons.

Players can qualify for minor league free agency in a few ways. The most notable of these include: players with 3+ years of MLB service time who have been outrighted off their teams’ 40-man rosters this season, players who have been outrighted off a 40-man roster multiple times in their careers, and unsigned players not on a 40-man roster who have spent parts of at least seven seasons on a minor league roster or injured list.

Many of these players won’t officially reach free agency until the start of the offseason, but some were let go by their teams a few weeks early once the regular season concluded. Each of the following players has elected minor league free agency within the past week, according to the MLB.com and Triple-A transactions trackers:

• R.J. Alaniz (Reds)
• Albert Almora Jr. (Mets)
• Travis Bergen (Blue Jays)
• Jesse Biddle (Braves)
• A.J. Cole (Blue Jays)
• Jairo Díaz (Rockies)
• Jerad Eickhoff (Mets)
• Michael Feliz (A’s)
• Trevor Gott (Giants)
• Dany Jiménez (Blue Jays)
• JaCoby Jones (Tigers)
• Ryan Lavarnway (Indians)
• Derek Law (Twins)
• Kyle Lobstein (Brewers)
• Luis Madero (Marlins)
• José Marmolejos (Mariners)
• Shawn Morimando (Marlins)
• Taylor Motter (Red Sox)
• Joe Panik (Marlins)
• Adam Plutko (Orioles)
• Austin Pruitt (Marlins)
• Nick Ramirez (Padres)
• Roel Ramírez (Mets)
• Austin Romine (Cubs)
• Adrián Sánchez (Nationals)
• Scott Schebler (Angels)
• Chance Sisco (Mets)
• Wilfredo Tovar (Mets)
• César Valdez (Orioles)
• Hyeon-jong Yang (Rangers)

Cole logged 23 1/3 innings for the Jays last season, posting a 3.09 ERA but shakier peripherals. He was non-tendered over the winter but returned to the organization on a minor league deal. Selected to the big league roster in early May, Cole worked eight innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts and just one walk. He landed on the 10-day injured list with neck tightness in early June, then suffered a left oblique strain that caused him to be shifted to the 60-day IL.

Nearing a return from those injuries, Cole began a minor league rehab assignment on August 11. Pitchers are allotted thirty days on rehab, and with Cole’s window dwindling, the Jays had to decide whether to bring him back. Rather than reinstall Cole to the active and 40-man rosters, Toronto elected to place him on waivers.

Cole has also appeared with the Nationals, Yankees and Indians over parts of seven big league seasons. Overall, the 29-year-old owns a 4.51 ERA/4.25 SIERA in 205 1/3 innings. Even if Cole accepts this outright assignment, he’d qualify for minor league free agency this winter if the Jays don’t add him back to the 40-man roster by the end of the season.

Saucedo didn’t pitch in today’s game, so he is still looking for the first Major League appearance of his six-year pro career.  A 21st-round pick for the Jays in the 2015 draft, the Hawaii native has a 4.30 ERA and 17.4% strikeout rate over 521 innings in Toronto’s farm system.

Most of Saucedo’s usage has come out of the rotation, though he was shifted to the bullpen in 2019 and has been used as a full-time reliever this season.  The results have been impressive, as Saucedo has a 2.20 ERA and a whopping 35% strikeout rate in 16 1/3 innings for Triple-A Buffalo, against just two walks and no home runs allowed.  Saucedo has consistently posted high grounder rates throughout his minor league career, and he has managed to keep the ball on the ground (51.4% rate) at Buffalo this year while spiking his strikeout rate at the same time.

With the Blue Jays hurting for relief help, Saucedo has plenty of opportunity to stick in the majors if he can come close to replicating his Triple-A numbers.  Saucedo and Tim Mayza are the only left-handers in Toronto’s bullpen, as Ryan Borucki and Travis Bergen are both on the injured list.

Cole will now also see his stay on the IL extended into at least August.  The righty was initially placed on the 10-day IL on June 2 with neck tightness, but today’s placement indicates that Cole has also suffered a left oblique strain.  Cole has signed with the Jays on minor league contracts in each of the last two seasons, and he has delivered quality results — a 2.59 ERA over 31 1/3 total innings in a Blue Jays uniform.

MAY 8, 4:18 pm: Dolis isn’t yet heading to the injured list, manager Charlie Montoyo told TSN’s Scott Mitchell and other reporters.  Dolis has a Grade 1 calf strain but the team is hopeful that he can recover within a few days.

MAY 8, 3:11 pm: The Blue Jays will place reliever Rafael Dolis on the 10-day injured list after he injured his calf in yesterday’s ballgame. A.J. Cole will be added to the roster, per Ben Wagner of Sportsnet (via Twitter). Ty Tice, meanwhile has been optioned to Triple-A after four appearances, and Alejandro Kirk was moved to the 60-day injured list, per Scott Mitchell of TSN sports (via Twitter).

It seems that the back end of Toronto’s bullpen is a touch snakebit this season. It started with losing free agent signing Kirby Yates to Tommy John surgery, but since the season started, alternative high-leverage options Jordan Romano, Julian Merryweather, and now Dolis have all spent time on the injured list.

Dolis has been a workhorse early on, appearing in 15 of the Blue Jays’ 31 games so far this season. He’s totaled 12 2/3 innings with a 4.26 ERA/4.66 FIP, three saves and a hold. Dolis has been the acting closer of late, though Romano is now back off the injured list and could take on a bigger role in Dolis’ absence.

Cole could also be an option for some high-leverage opportunities, as the 29-year-old has performed well the past couple of seasons. With Toronto in 2020, Cole logged 23 1/3 innings in 24 appearances with a 3.09 ERA/4.31 FIP.

With the increasingly-popular Kirk earning his roster spot, the Blue Jays have a decision looming on Reese McGuire. If the Blue Jays decide against carrying three catchers, they will have to expose McGuire to the waiver process. There is a possibility that Toronto keeps him on the roster, however, especially if George Springer starts the year on the injured list. With Joe Panik and Jonathan Davis also announced as members of the bench, there’s probably not room for McGuire if Springer is healthy enough to play. Infielder Breyvic Valera will also have to be designated for assignment should he not make the roster, as seems likely.

In terms of the bullpen, the final roster spot will go to either Julian Merryweather, Francisco Liriano, or Anthony Castro, notes Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star (via Twitter). A.J. Cole was in the running as well, but he is less likely to start the season with the big-league club. Merrweather has some multi-inning potential as a power arm, and he is slated to pitch once more before a final decision is made. He’s also the one of the four who is already on the 40-man roster.

Speaking of which, Panik needs to be added to the 40-man roster, as does Mayza. The 40-man roster is currently full, though since McGuire and Valera are both out of options, they could be DFA’ed to open the space needed. Ben Nicholson-Smith of sportsnet.ca provides a visual representation of the decisions ahead for Toronto.

Acquired from the Cubs in a deadline trade for David Phelps in 2019, Hatch posted a 2.73 ERA over his first 26 1/3 Major League innings, though advanced metrics weren’t too keen on his performance.  Hatch worked almost exclusively out of the bullpen last season, and for 2021 was being viewed by the Jays as a possible reliever or depth starter, or perhaps a bit of both in a swingman or long-relief gig.  Unfortunately, those plans may now be up in the air given Hatch’s injury — while more will be known once Hatch is examined by trainers and doctors, it certainly looked like a potential long-term problem for the 26-year-old. [UPDATE: Hatch will undergo an MRI, Scott Mitchell of TSN tweets.]

More from Toronto…

• A possible absence for Hatch adds another layer to an already-tricky set of forthcoming roster decisions for the Jays, as Nate Pearson is also looking at a season-opening IL stint due to a setback in his recovery from a groin strain.  Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi looks at some of the Jays’ possible options in shaping their roster, and at least one 40-man move will be necessary since Francisco Liriano is looking like a solid bet to make the team.  Liriano signed a minor league deal in February that will pay him $1.5MM in guaranteed salary if he makes the MLB roster, and a good Spring Training performance has the veteran in line to win a spot as left-handed depth in Toronto’s bullpen.
• Both Liriano and Joe Panik have March 25 opt-out dates in their minors contracts if they aren’t added to the big league team, while Tommy Milone’s opt-out is on March 27 and A.J. Cole’s opt-out isn’t until May 15.  In terms of out-of-options players, Reese McGuire and Breyvic Valera can’t be sent to the minors without first clearing waivers, which could give them some advantage in making the team.  “The Blue Jays would ideally love to stash a few of their minor-league contracts on the taxi squad, with the carrot of a quick call up if needed,” Davidi writes.
• The Jays announced yesterday that they had exercised their club option on Charlie Montoyo for the 2022 season, giving the manager an additional guaranteed year on his contract.  In terms of a longer-term extension, Montoyo told told Mitchell and other reporters that such negotiations had yet to take.  Entering his third season as Toronto’s manager, Montoyo led the young Jays to a 32-28 record and a spot in the expanded 2020 postseason last year, and now more is expected of a team that made some big offseason investments.

Cole spent last season as a member of the Blue Jays, with whom he turned in a 3.09 ERA in 23 1/3 innings, but the team non-tendered him in lieu of bringing him back on a projected $800K to $1.1MM salary. Shiny ERA aside, Cole didn’t post especially impressive strikeout/walk stats, as the 29-year-old finished with a 21.1 percent K rate against a 9.5 percent BB rate. Cole did, however, have a terrific season by Statcast’s standards. For instance, the .239 expected weighted on-base average he yielded ranked in the league’s 95th percentile.

If Cole does reach the majors again in 2021, it’ll be his seventh straight year appearing in the bigs. The former National, Yankee and Indian owns a 4.65 ERA with a 23 percent strikeout rate and a 9.3 percent walk rate in 197 1/3 innings.

Formerly a productive third baseman with the Brewers, Shaw endured a terrible 2019 in his final season with the club. The Blue Jays still signed him to a $4MM guarantee last offseason, and while Shaw did post much better numbers, they weren’t enough for him to remain in their plans at a similar salary for 2021. The 30-year-old ended the season as a .239/.306/.411 hitter with six home runs in 180 plate appearances.

Cole has struggled with home runs at times, though he only yielded them on 9.7 percent of fly balls in 2020, helping him to a terrific 3.09 ERA in 23 1/3 innings. But some of Cole’s other numbers, including a 4.31 FIP, 7.71 K/9 and 3.47 BB/9, were less impressive. He’d have only made around $1MM via arbitration, but the Blue Jays weren’t willing to keep him around for that.

Notably absent is right-hander Nate Pearson, one of the game’s elite pitching prospects. He’s on the team’s three-man taxi squad (along with southpaw Ryan Borucki and catcher Caleb Joseph) but won’t accrue service time in that role. He’ll reportedly be called up next week, when the Jays will be able to promote him while extending their club control of him for an additional season (as has long been expected).

Moran, 31, is the older brother of Pirates third baseman Colin Moran. He made his big league debut at 30 years of age with the Marlins last season, pitching 6 1/3 innings while yielding three runs with a 10-to-2 K/BB ratio. A seventh-round pick in 2009, Moran has had quite the odyssey to the Majors, twice taking to the independent circuit as a showcase to get back into affiliated ball. But he carries a career 3.67 ERA with 11.5 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 in 176 1/3 Triple-A frames and will now get his second opportunity in the Majors.

Cole, 28, is a former top prospect who’s yet to find his footing despite multiple MLB chances. He’s seen action with three teams in parts of five seasons but posted a pedestrian 4.86 ERA and 5.03 FIP in 174 innings. Cole had some success both with the Nats in 2017 and the Indians last year, logging identical 3.81 ERAs in both years. He’s averaged better than a strikeout per frame in the big leagues but has also surrendered an average of 1.8 homers per nine innings pitched.

The Jays don’t need to make any corresponding transactions to add Moran and Cole to the 40-man. The team recently placed Breyvic Valera on the restricted list after he was unable to leave his native Venezuela and report to Jays Summer Camp in Toronto. The club also has Brandon Drury, Jonathan Davis, Wilmer Font and Elvis Luciano on the Covid-19 IL, and none of the four will count against the team’s 40-man roster while on that list.

Cole, 27, spent the 2019 campaign with the Indians, for whom he tallied 26 innings of 3.81 ERA ball with 10.4 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 1.38 HR/9 and a 30.8 percent ground-ball rate. Once regarded as one of the game’s top pitching prospects, Cole has yet to establish himself as a consistent MLB contributor but has demonstrated some intriguing traits since moving to the bullpen on a full-time basis in 2018.

Over his past 62 innings between the Indians and Yankees, Cole has worked to a 4.21 ERA with 11.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9. He’s still been far too homer-prone (1.89 per nine) and may always struggle a bit in that regard thanks to his extreme fly-ball tendencies (32.2 percent grounder rate), but Cole could also stand to benefit a bit if next year’s ball is a bit less charged. The 6’5″, 238-pound righty averaged 94.2 mph on his heater between his time with New York and Cleveland, and both his swinging-strike rate (15.1 percent) and opponents’ chase rate on pitches out of the strike zone (33.2 percent) were sources of intrigue as well. Beyond all that, Cole’s spin rate on his fastball skyrocketed in 2019 and wound up ranking in the 82nd percentile of MLB hitters, per Statcast.

Cole will have to earn a job in big league camp with the Jays next spring, but the thin nature of the Toronto pitching staff should give him a decent chance at doing so if he performs well in camp. He’s out of minor league options, so once the Jays select him to the MLB roster, he won’t be able to be sent back down without first being passed through waivers. Even if he did clear waivers, as a player who’s previously been outrighted (twice, in fact), Cole would be able to turn down the assignment in favor of free agency.

That’s a rather notable group of arms for the pitching-rich Cleveland organization to cast out onto the open market. Olson was still a bit shy of arbitration eligibility, but the three right-handers would have qualified. Anderson and Cole each projected to earn $800K, while Salazar could have anticipated a repeat of his $4.5MM salary.

Olson, 30, had shown a surprising leap in swinging-strike rate in 2018. While he still allowed more earned runs than you’d like to see, the club understandably believed he’d be a useful hurler — particularly as a lefty specialist. As it turned out, Olson fell back to earth with a big velocity drop. He ended the campaign with 30 2/3 innings of 4.40 ERA ball and 8.2 K/9 against 4.7 BB/9.

The 29-year-old Anderson has long struggled with health issues but was able to return to the bigs for the first time since 2016. Unfortunately, he was knocked around in 8 2/3 innings at the game’s highest level.

Cole delivered an intriguing stat line on the surface, with a 3.81 ERA and 30:8 K/BB ratio over 26 innings. He’s still 27 years of age, averaged just under 95 mph with his fastball, and has maintained about a 14% swinging-strike rate in a relief role over the past two seasons. It’s tough to argue with the Indians front office when it comes to pitching decisions, but it’ll be interesting to see whether Cole is claimed.

As for Salazar, the best-known name on this list, his time in Cleveland will finally come to a close. That was a foregone conclusion by now. The injury-riddled former All-Star did show intriguing strikeout ability in his minor-league rehab run and made it back to the majors for one outing. But he ended up back on the injured list thereafter and eventually asked to be excused from the organization while struggling in yet another rehab effort.

Cole, 27, will presumably work out of an unsung Indians pen that’s been a surprising bright spot in 2019. Both Brad Hand and Adam Cimber have again been rock-solid, and under-the-radar pickup Nick Wittgren has quietly been among the AL’s best in a brief sample thus far.

In 148 big-league innings across four seasons with the Nationals and Yankees, Cole has shown an unyielding proclivity for the K, though it’s too often been offset by an icky gopher-ball itch. His 1.89 HR/9 ranks near the back of the league over that span, hitting rock bottom in ’18 with a disturbing 2.79 HR/9 over 48 IP with both clubs. In 17 innings with Columbus this season, Cole’d allowed just 2 homers, though his 35.3% grounder rate placed right in line with his career norms.

• Right-hander A.J. Cole cleared waivers, the Indians announced Monday. He’s been sent outright to Triple-A Columbus and will be in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee to Major League camp. Cleveland plucked Cole off waivers when the Yankees had designated him for assignment last month. The Indians will now have the luxury of trying to capitalize on the strong ability Cole showed to miss bats last season without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to that effort. Cole averaged 11.6 K/9 with a gaudy 15.9 percent swinging-strike rate and 34.3 percent chase rate in 38 innings of relief with the Yankees. The long ball was his undoing, though, as he surrendered a wholly unacceptable nine big flies in those 38 frames (2.13 HR/9).

Earlier Moves

• The Rays have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Tyler Cloyd, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll be invited to Major League Spring Training when pitchers and catchers report this week. Cloyd, 31, didn’t appear in the Majors from 2014-16 but returned to MLB with a lone inning in 2017 before tallying 17 2/3 frames for the Marlins last year. He’s allowed 17 runs in 18 2/3 innings since returning to the Majors. Cloyd did post a solid 68-to-18 K/BB ratio in 85 1/3 innings with Triple-A New Orleans last year, although a susceptibility to home runs and a low strand rate led to a less encouraging 5.17 ERA overall with the Marlins’ top affiliate. The Rays cycled through 31 pitchers a year ago (which is less than it sounds like in today’s game) and could see that number rise in 2019 if they more aggressively employ their utilization of openers and bullpen-heavy games.

If Cole’s time with the Cleveland organization is up, his stay will have been brief; the Indians only claimed him off waivers from the Yankees back on Jan 11. He’d have been in line to compete for a bullpen job in Spring Training and may still have that opportunity, though he’ll first need to clear outright waivers. If another club claims Cole, that new team will have to open the season with him on the Major League roster or else once again expose him to waivers, as Cole is out of minor league options.

Cole, who turned 27 earlier this month, gave the Yankees 38 innings of 4.26 ERA ball after being acquired from the Nationals in 2018, pitching in primarily a multi-inning relief role. Along the way, he averaged a strong 11.6 K/9 and registered an enormous 15.9 percent swinging-strike rate with a very good 34.3 percent opponents’ chase rate on out-of-zone pitches. However, he was also immensely susceptible to home runs, as he averaged 2.13 homers per nine innings pitched with the Yankees. In all, between New York and Washington, Cole yielded a staggering 15 home runs in 38 innings.

That said, Cole was at one point considered to be among the most promising pitching prospects in all of baseball, and surely the strikeout rate, swinging-strike rate and chase rate could hold appeal to another team — particularly one that is thin on rotation depth and/or has multiple bullpen spots up for grabs. He’ll need to learn to keep the ball in the yard, but the level at which Cole missed bats in 2018 would be elite if he proved it to be sustainable; the 15.9 percent swinging-strike rate he logged as a Yankee would’ve ranked 12th in the game among qualified relievers last year.