Blue Jays claim infielder Breyvic Valera, option Ryan Dull

The Toronto Blue Jays have claimed infielder Breyvic Valera off waivers from the New York Yankees.

The Blue Jays pillaged yet another player from the Yankee’s waiver wire heap just days after selecting reliever Ryan Dull from New York. The Jays then opted to option Dull to make room on the 40-man roster for Breyvic Valera.

The 27-year old Valera had appeared in 12 games for the Yankees this season notching seven hits including a double and triple in 37 plate appearances. Valera has cups of coffee in the majors with the Dodgers, Orioles, and Cardinals prior to joining New York.

In 49 MLB games, Valera is hitting .217/.298/.264 with 23 hits and a stolen base. The infielder has played 31 games at second base, three games at third, two at shortstop and a game in right-field thus far in the majors.

In 2018, Valera was part of the package going back to Baltimore from the Dodgers in the Manny Machado trade. Valera was then purchased by the Giants in the offseason and claimed then off waivers by the Yankees this past May.

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Valera split the 2019 campaign with the Triple-A affiliates in Sacramento and Scranton. In 107 games Valera hit .303/.389/.480 with 115 hits including 14 home runs ten stolen bases in 17 attempts.

The Venezuelan native owns a career .299 average with 37 homers and 105 stolen bases in 1001 games over ten seasons at the minor league level.

Dull was claimed two days earlier but did not pitch for his new team before being designated. The 29-year old reliever sports a career 4.29 earned run average in 170 relief appearances with the Athletics and Yankees.

The Blue Jays obviously felt that Valera provided more upside than Dull moving forward. We will have to wait and see if the Jays give Valera an opportunity to showcase his talents at the big league level before the conclusion of the 2019 season.