Blue Jays: Devon Travis declines assignment, elects to become free agent

According to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet, Toronto Blue Jays’ second baseman Devon Travis has declined his outright assignment and will now become a free agent.

The Devon Travis era in a Blue Jays uniform has officially come to an end as the second baseman has officially elected to test the free-agent waters. Travis was outrighted for assignment earlier this week, however, Travis has opted to decline the assignment to Triple-A.

The Blue Jays’ career of Travis is an unfortunate story of misfortune and injury as the 28-year old has battled an assortment of knee injuries that crippled his potential. The emergence of Cavan Biggio and his injury uncertainty have made him expendable.

MLB Trade Rumors had Travis pegged to earn $1.95 million next season, a sum the brain trust thought could be better spent elsewhere. Even if healthy, Travis would be second fiddle to Biggio on the infield depth chart. If will be interesting to see if Travis will secure an MLB contract or have to settle for a minor-league pact from his next employer.

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Travis missed the entire 2019 campaign after seeing action in 103 games the season before although he struggled for much of 2018. Over the past five seasons since being acquired from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Anthony Gose, Travis played in only 316 games due to injury.

The second baseman had surgery for a meniscus tear in his left knee last March, however, he experienced complications that derailed his 2019 season. He will conclude his Jays career hitting .274/.314/.437 with 78 doubles, 35 home runs, and a 6.6 WAR.

Travis always carried himself with a smile even through the tough times and was one of the most authentic, salt of the earth human beings the Toronto sports scene has ever seen. We wish nothing but the best for Devo in his future endeavors and hopefully, his career takes him back north of the border before it is all said and done.