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8:36 am: The Jays are finalists for Yates but have yet to make a deal, tweets Ken Rosenthal of Athletic. Heyman further tweets that Yates “leans” towards the Blue Jays but has yet to officially agree to anything.
8:28 am: Free relief agent Kirby yates has been on the verge of a decision since the start of the week, and TSN’s Scott Mitchell reports this morning that Yates is “firmly” on the Blue Jays’ radar. Yates is expected to meet with team officials at the organization’s spring training complex in Dunedin, Fla., Per Mitchell, who adds he said Yates was not “fair. visiting”. Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets that Yates and the Jays are close to a deal.
Yates only appeared six games last season before undergoing surgery to remove bone shards from his elbow – a procedure that ended the already truncated 2020 season for the former All-Star. Yates, 33 (34 in March), has gone from a waiver request to a similarly dazzling dominant reliever to the former Padres teammate. Brad Hand and the new, closer White Sox Liam Hendriks.
After a solid first season in San Diego in 2017, Yates added a splitter to his arsenal and saw his career take off; in 2018-19, Yates led all qualified relievers with a 1.67 ERA and placed third with an SIERA of 2.14 over the span of 123 2/3 innings. Along the way, he knocked out 38.7% of the hitters he faced, while walking only 6.1% of the opponents. Of the qualified MLB relievers, only Josh hader and Edwin diaz exceeded it in terms of K-BB% during this period.
The Blue Jays received midrange results from their enclosure in 2020, but quietly enjoyed good performances from unannounced members of the relief corps. Beginner Jordan romano, returned after failing to stay with the Rangers after the rule 5 draft, allowed just two runs in 14 2/3 innings while striking out 21 of the 57 batters he faced. Old wolf cubs law Rafael Dolis, meanwhile, joined the Jays after an impressive run in Japan and gave just four earned runs in 24 innings while knocking out 31 of 100 batters he faced. Tom hatch and Julian Merryweather, acquired in the respective businesses of David phelps and Josh donaldson, both gave the Jays cause for optimism as they did when they debuted in MLB.
As encouraging as some of these shows may have been, the Jays lack experienced arms in the back of their enclosure. Ken giles, who entered the 2020 season as Toronto approached, has missed most of the year due to Tommy John’s surgery and is now a free agent. Veteran right-hander Anthony bass, one of the team’s most trusted options in 2020, is also a free agent at the moment.
Toronto reportedly agreed to terms with right-hander Tyler Chatwood, another bullpen candidate, last night. It still seems likely that the Jays, who have been hooked up to countless free agents this winter as one of the few clubs actually willing to spend big bucks, will make some new additions to the pickup box, even if a deal with Yates ends up being made. In particular, starters who have become lifters Anthony Kay and Ryan borucki are the only lefties in the Toronto bullpen. While Borucki is likely to be with the club due to a lack of minor-league options, Kay struggled to achieve an ERA north of 5.00 thanks to an inflated 14% walk rate in 2020. and there are minor league options left.
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