Blue Jays designated OF Darin Mastroianni for assignment.
Mastroianni was cleared to make room for the newly-signed Francisco Cordero on the 40-man roster. The 26-year-old outfielder had three plate appearances with the Blue Jays last season, but spent the majority of the year in the minors, batting .268/.353/.377 with three homers, 36 RBI, 10 stolen bases and a .730 OPS between Double- and Triple-A. There’s a chance he’ll slip through waivers.
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Blue Jays signed RHP Francisco Cordero to a one-year, $4.5 million contract.
The deal was reported last week, but wasn’t made official until Wednesday. Cordero struggled to find a job this winter and ultimately settled for a set-up role with the Blue Jays after the Reds signed Ryan Madson to serve as their closer. The 36-year-old right-hander posted a 2.45 ERA and 37 saves as the Reds’ closer last season, but his fastball velocity and strikeout rate were both on the decline. He likely won’t be relevant in mixed leagues unless Sergio Santos struggles or hits the disabled list.
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Jose Bautista insisted to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez on Tuesday that he has been tested 16 times over the past two years for performance-enhancing substances.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports was told by a source that Bautista was “not even in the ballpark” with his claim that he was tested 16 times, but the slugger stands by recent comments that were printed in Hoy, a newspaper in the Dominican Republic. “Whoever is saying that I wasn’t tested might have their reasons,” said Bautista. “I don’t know why somebody would feel they have to defend themselves. I’m part of the program, and the program says you have to be tested once during the season and once mandatory during Spring Training. Since it’s random, you can be tested multiple times, and if that’s what happened to me, I’m fine with it. I don’t see why somebody needs to be so defensive about it and make it sound like I wasn’t. I know what happened. I know how many times I was tested, and I don’t really care if anybody says I wasn’t.” Bautista, 31, has led the majors in home runs in each of the past two seasons.
Source: mlb.com
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Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports was told by a source that Jose Bautista has not been drug tested 16 times in the past two seasons.
Dominican newspaper Hoy reported last week that Bautista recently said at a banquet that MLB tested him 16 times for PEDs between 2010-2011, but a source told Passan that the number is “not even in the ballpark.” It’s not clear whether the number wasn’t accurately stated by Bautista or there was some confusion on the part of the newspaper, but Passan’s source claims that the slugger was tested the normal amount by MLB.
Source: twitter.com
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Bob Mitchell of the Toronto Sun reports Jose Bautista has been “randomly” drug tested an extraordinary number of times by Major League Baseball.
Source: thestar.com
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Blue Jays signed C Kyle Phillips to a minor league contract.
He’s likely to receive a spring training invite in order to serve as an extra backstop in camp. Phillips batted just .171/.259/.289 over 85 plate appearances this past season for the Padres and will serve as organizational depth.
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Blue Jays signed RHP Tim Redding to a minor league contract.
We’re not sure if he’ll be getting an invite to spring training or not, but he won’t be making the club even if he does. Redding hasn’t appeared in a major league game since 2009 and held a 6.24 ERA over 18 games at the Triple-A level this past season.
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Blue Jays signed RHP Brandon Morrow to a three-year, $20 million contract extension with a $10 million club option for 2015.
The deal covers Morrow’s two remaining arbitration seasons and his first year of free agency. It’s a risky play for the Blue Jays given the right-hander’s history with injuries and his sometimes troubling walk rates. But he has nasty raw stuff and the potential to dominate if he fixes a few flaws. Morrow, 27, had a 4.72 ERA and 10.2 K/9 in 30 starts last season.
Source: twitter.com
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Blue Jays signed INF Omar Vizquel to a minor league contract.
The deal includes a spring training invite. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick initially reported that Vizquel signed a one-year contract, but it appears he’ll have to beat out Mike McCoy and/or Luis Valbuena for a spot on the Opening Day roster. Vizquel, who turns 45 in April, is sitting on 2,841 career hits.
Source: twitter.com
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According to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca, the Blue Jays and Brandon Morrow are nearing a three-year, $20 million contract extension.
The deal, which includes a $10 million option for a fourth year or a $1 million buyout, could be announced as soon as Tuesday. The new deal would buy out his final two years of arbitration and his first year of free agency. Morrow, 27, requested $4.2 million and was offered $3.9 million from the Blue Jays when arbitration figures were exchanged last week.
Source: twitter.com
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