Blue Jays: Freddy Galvis claimed off waivers by Reds

Earlier today the Cincinnati Reds claimed veteran shortstop, Freddy Galvis, off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays.

Freddy Galvis’ tenure with the Blue Jays is officially over as the Cincinnati Reds claimed the shortstop off waivers earlier today. The move was officialized by both clubs earlier this afternoon and comes after the Blue Jays could not move Galvis prior to the July 31st trade deadline. The logjam that was created in the infield with Bo Bichette’s call up to the big league team.

With the previous August waiver deadline, the Venezuelan shortstop would have been an obvious trade candidate but with the new system, a trade in August cannot be made. According to Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi, the Blue Jays placed him on outright waivers over this past weekend giving him a chance to match with a contender.

With Galvis gone, the Blue Jays clear up the infield logjam and give full responsibility at shortstop to Bo Bichette. This move also frees up more time at second base for Cavan Biggio and DH at-bats. According to reports, Billy McKinney is taking Galvis’ roster spot.

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The Blue Jays currently have a two-player bench, something that will presumably not last for long. The team will probably option a pitcher after tonight’s game against the Texas Rangers and call up a position player, although that is just speculation. First baseman, Rowdy Tellez, who’s hitting .366 with seven home runs at Triple-A Buffalo makes a lot of sense to get the call-up.

Tellez could now have regular at-bats as the DH with Galvis gone. Richard Urena is another candidate to eventually get the call up as the Jays do not have a backup shortstop on the active roster, although Brandon Drury could play short if anything happens to Bo Bichette.

Galvis is having the best offensive season of his career batting .267/.299/.444 along 18 home runs, a team-leading 54 runs batted in and an OPS+ of 96 in 115 games played.

The Jays, as a result, save about $1 million that was owed to Galvis for the remainder of the season. The veteran shortstop also had a club option on his contract worth $5.5 million for 2020 with a $1 million buyout. The Jays were likely to decline the club option, with Cavan Biggio and Bo Bichette in the middle of the infield, so they could end up saving about $2 million by moving Galvis.