Wil Ledezma Outrighted to Triple-A Las Vegas, Another Move Coming?

According to an official press release, the Blue Jays have outrighted Wil Ledezma, who they acquired just six days ago, to Triple-A Las Vegas. He will now be a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.

As Mat pointed out in his article on here after the Jays claimed Ledezma off waivers from the Pirates, the Jays are familiar with him, as they signed him to a Minor League contract in 2009.

Ledezma has pitched only 25.1 Major League innings over the last two years, allowing 33 hits (10.7 H/9) and 10 walks (3.6). His 30 strikeouts in those 25.1 innings are encouraging though, and his 3.23 FIP last season suggests he was the victim of some bad luck, which would warrant possible dismissal of his 6.86 ERA in 2010.

Even if Ledezma blows it in Spring Training, his effective numbers in Triple-A last season ( 4 ER, 19 BB, and 50 SO in 38.1 IP) show that he could be a useful depth option at the very least. It wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing for Ledezma to eat some of the innings that Steven Register, Zach Jackson, Merkin Valdez, or Rommie Lewis logged last season, as they all struggled mightily with the 51s in 2010.

I was a bit skeptical about why GM Alex Anthopoulos elected to pass on selecting someone in December’s Rule 5 Draft, citing 40-man roster spots as the reason, only to claim Wil Ledezma one month later and possibly give him a spot on the Jays 40-man.

But, as Andrew Stoeten over at Drunk Jays Fans pointed out earlier this evening, having Ledezma outrighted to Triple-A means that there is now a new 40-man roster spot open. This could be for Brian Fuentes, who the Jays have been linked to in rumors recently, an upcoming trade that Anthopoulos is discretely working on, or a possible free agent bat, say, Vladimir Guerrero?

Let the speculation begin.

-JM

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