Blue Jays swap Burns and Antolin for Paredes, Venditte

The Blue Jays recently claimed Paredes off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles

The Toronto Blue Jays have made a series of roster moves prior to Tuesday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Recent acquisition Jimmy Paredes has been activated from the 15-day disabled list and added to the roster along with Pat Venditte, who is being recalled from triple-A Buffalo.

Infielder Andy Burns and relief pitcher Dustin Antolin will be sent back to the Buffalo Bisons after both players made their major league debut.

Paredes is the headline name from this transaction as the Blue Jays look to add a power tool and some level of positional versatility to their bench. While his defence hasn’t earned him a great deal of trust in the past, he did manage to hit ten home runs with 42 RBIs for the Baltimore Orioles last season playing primarily as a designated hitter.

A switch-hitter, Paredes performed much better against right-handers in 2015 with a slash line of .278 / .312 / .428, but struggled mightily with strikeouts. After a monster start to the season Paredes really saw his performance taper off in the second half, so this could be about catching lightining in a bottle for the Blue Jays.

Toronto’s typical bench under this roster construction will consist of Paredes, Josh Thole, Ezequiel Carrera, and one of Darwin Barney or Ryan Goins.

Venditte arrives in the bullpen as a second left-handed option alongside rookie Chad Girodo as the Blue Jays are without Brett Cecil (15-day DL), Franklin Morales (15-day DL), and Aaron Loup (rehab stint).

The ambidextrous Venditte has pitched 3.2 innings with the major league club this season, allowing three runs on four runs and five hits. His triple-A numbers have been expectedly better, with a 3.86 ERA of nine and a third innings.