Blue Jays trade for Guardians outfielder Bradley Zimmer

The Toronto Blue Jays have traded right-handed reliever Anthony Castro to the Cleveland Guardians for outfielder Bradley Zimmer, the team announced Thursday.

The 29-year-old Zimmer debuted in 2017 and has spent his entire five-year career with Cleveland, working to a career .227/.310/.347 slash line with 19 home runs and 86 RBIs.

Originally drafted 21st overall by Cleveland in the 2014 draft, the left-handed-hitting outfielder has been largely relegated to a bench role in his time in the big leagues and will most likely serve the same role with the Blue Jays when he joins the team.

Going to Cleveland in the deal is 27-year-old Anthony Castro, who was originally a waiver claim of the Blue Jays in December 2020. Castro appeared in 25 games with the Jays last season and posted a 4.74 ERA in 24.2 innings. He did not make the big league roster out of Spring Training and was set to start the year in the minors.

The Toronto Blue Jays have landed outfielder Bradley Zimmer from the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for reliever Anthony Castro.

Zimmer provides the Blue Jays with another lefty option off the bench. The Jays are a lineup dominated by right-handed hitters, but the acquisition of Zimmer along with the former Rockies outfielder Raimel Tapia, rookie infielder Gosuke Katoh, and backup catcher Zach Collins now give manager Charlie Montoyo plenty of lefty options.

Blue Jays team president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins were in the Cleveland front office when Zimmer was drafted and are clearly willing to give the 29-year-old another shot, hoping that he can provide some productivity at the big league level.

Zimmer recently qualified for salary arbitration for the first time this offseason and was granted $1.3 million. He is also under team control through the 2024 season and is out of minor league options.