Blue Jays Sign Two Lefties To Minor League Deals

According to Matt Eddy of Baseball America, the Jays have signed left-handed reliever Mike Hinckley and re-signed left-handed reliever/spot starter Willie Collazo to minor league contracts.

Hinckley, who last played in the Majors in 2009 where he walked 11 in 9.2 innings, was a 3rd round pick by the Montreal Expos in 2001. He could have ties to current Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos from when he was with the Expos prior to starting to work with the Blue Jays in 2003.

Hinckley spent all of 2010 in the Baltimore Orioles minor league system, having stints at the AA and AAA levels. Overall, the 28 year old went 1-5 with a 3.86 ERA in 46.2 innings, to go along with a 3.7 BB/9 and a 6.8 K/9.

Collazo, who is currently a starter in the Puerto Rican Winter League, made only 4 appearances with Triple-A Las Vegas this past season. He gave up 4 earned runs, 1 walk, and had 6 strikeouts in 7.2 innings pitched.

Both moves seem to be nothing more than filling minor league depth, considering the Jays 2011 bullpen is looking very bare right now and two relievers from AA were sent to the A’s in the Rajai Davis trade on Wednesday. Both could possibly get a chance to prove themselves in Spring Training.

-JM