Toronto Blue Jays: Sunday Roster Moves and Updates

The Toronto Blue Jays made a handful of roster moves on Sunday, some came before the series finale and some came at the conclusion of the game.

Prior to the start of the final game of the weekend against the New York Yankees, the Blue Jays announced that they had optioned Joel Payamps to the Alternate Training Site and selected the contract of left-handed pitcher Tommy Milone.  Milone will be moved to the bullpen and to make room on the 40-man roster, while Kirby Yates was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

After bouncing around on waivers over the winter, Payamps found himself making the Opening Day roster for the Blue Jays.  Payamps was impressive in his one appearance over the weekend when he came into the game to face D.J. LeMahieu on the seventh inning on Saturday with two out.  He got LeMahieu to line out and then returned for the eighth inning.  In the next inning he did walk Aaron Hicks, but also struck out Aaron Judge as well as forcing a weak fly ball and a soft ground ball to Bo Bichette to end the eighth unscathed.

Milone was signed to a minor league contract by Toronto in February and is a left-handed pitcher that has moved around the league.  During his ten-year major league career he has played for 10 different organizations.  Milone has bounced back and forth from bullpen to starting rotation over the last few years, but it is expected he will likely fill a role in the bullpen.

As many know, Yates is lost for the remainder of the season due to Tommy John surgery, so it was just a matter of time before he was placed on the 60-day injured list.

Sunday evening as the team headed to Texas, the organization announced that both Reese McGuire and Breyvic Valera had cleared waivers and had been assigned to the Alternate Training Site (ATS).  McGuire being assigned to the ATS is quite valuable to the team as it gives them a bit of security if Alejandro Kirk is not quite up to a full season in the major leagues.  Valera likely will need several injuries before he gets an opportunity.

Now with the Blue Jays heading into Texas they will need to take another series win.