Blue Jays reliever Rafael Soriano chooses retirement

The recent Toronto Blue Jays minor league signing leaves the game with 207 saves over a 14-year major league career

Rafael Soriano‘s delayed arrival to Blue Jays spring training has been cancelled altogether as the veteran reliever is reportedly retiring from the game of baseball. 


The 36-year-old Dominican signed with the Blue Jays on February 28th and was expected to provide the Blue Jays with minor league depth or potentially push for the final right-handed job in their bullpen.

Earlier in the month, fellow veteran Maicer Izturis retired unexpectedly. The Blue Jays eventually signed Alexi Casilla to fill a vaguely similar role to Izturis on the organizational depth chart, but given Toronto’s pitching depth, a one-for-one replacement may not be necessary in Soriano’s case.

In 2015, Soriano did not sign with the Chicago Cubs until well into the season, where injuries limited him to just 5.2 major league innings. His last full seasons came in 2013 and 2014 with the Washington Nationals, which current Jays closer(?) Drew Storen will remember fondly(?).

The right-hander walks away from the game with an impressive career ERA of 2.98 in 591 appearances with 207 saves. Soriano debuted with the Seattle Mariners in 2002 as a 22-year-old and went on to play for the Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Nationals, and Cubs.

His strongest season came in his lone All Star campaign, 2010 with the Rays. Soriano saved 45 ball games that year with a 1.73 ERA and 0.802 WHIP.