Blue Jays Roster Updates

As we head into the second month of the off season, the Blue Jays have made several changes to their roster. Most notably, second basemen Devon Travis and relief pitcher Ryan Tepera have become free agents.

Travis has battled injury throughout his entire career. He appeared in just 153 games over the last 3 seasons, and missed the entire 2019 season due to a surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. When healthy, Travis showed flashes of brilliance, both offensively and defensively. His best performance came in his 2015 rookie season when he posted a .304/.361/.498 slash line to go along with a 2.2 oWAR and 0.3 dWAR over 62 games. However, as the Blue Jays continue their rebuild, that translates into more playing time for some of their young stars. Both Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and rookie Cavan Biggio saw time at second base during 2019 and will likely split time at the position in 2020 in Travis’ absence. Gurriel Jr. missed time in 2019 due to injury but is expected to be an important part of the Blue Jays future. He’s known for his ability to hit the long-ball, crushing 20 home runs in just 84 games during the 2019 season. Biggio made his MLB debut in 2019 and played in 100 games. Biggio placed 5^th in Rookie of the Year voting, and was the highest placing Blue Jay in the poll.

Tepera’s 2019 season was one to forget, as he also fought the injury bug for most of it. A right elbow impingement kept him from pitching and he appeared in just 20 games. Authoring a 4.98 ERA in just 21.2 IP, 2019 was Tepera’s worst season, and he was never able to pitch effectively when he was reinstated from the injury list. Tepera was on a 1 year, $1.525m dollar contract for the 2019 season, and the Blue Jays have opted not to offer him a new one. This decision came as a bit of a surprise, as Tepera was one of their more consistent bullpen pieces for the past 4 years. He played an integral role in the Blue Jays playoff runs in 2015 and 2016, and put together a respectable 3.41 ERA from 2015-2018.

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