Blue Jays: Danny Jansen to the IL; Josh Palacios DFA’d

The Blue Jays made numerous transactions this evening prior to the game against the New York Yankees, highlighted by the news that catcher Danny Jansen was heading to the IL with an oblique strain while outfielder Josh Palacios was DFA’d to make room for catcher Tyler Heineman on the roster.

On top of the Jansen/Palacios news, the Jays announced that southpaw reliever Tayler Saucedo was optioned to AAA while fellow left-hander Anthony Kay was called up to the big league squad in a corresponding move.

The Jansen IL news is super frustrating, mostly because he was having a fantastic start to the season. In the three-game series against the Rangers, Jansen went 4 for 7 with one double and two solo home runs with one walk and zero strikeouts. After the injury-filled campaign he had last year and the struggle to hit for consistency at the big league level since his debut in 2018, Jansen was one player that really stood out this past weekend and to have him hit the IL is just super unfortunate.

To ensure the Jays continue to have a minimum of three catchers on the active roster, Heineman joins the club in New York prior to first pitch. A former eighth-round pick of the Houston Astros, the switch-hitting catcher owns a .208/.288/.302 slash line through 62 at-bats since making his MLB debut back in 2019.

Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen heads to the IL while outfielder Josh Palacios was DFA’d to make room for Tyler Heineman on the 40-man roster.

To make room for Heineman on the 40-man roster, the Blue Jays DFA’d outfielder Josh Palacios, a move that surprised quite a few fans. A fourth-round pick of the Jays back in 2016, Palacios has worked his way up through the Minor League ladder and made his MLB debut last season, going 7 for 35 with two home runs early in the season before being sent back down. With the acquisitions of outfielders Raimel Tapia and Bradley Zimmer this year, these moves probably swayed the front office to DFA Palacios compared to other options and I wouldn’t be surprised if another club takes a chance on him similar to Jonathan Davis and Anthony Alford over the previous two seasons.

Tayler Saucedo was sent down to AAA after struggling through the weekend, allowing four earned runs through 2.1 innings of work against the Rangers while the Jays decided to bring up fellow left-hander Anthony Kay to the active roster. The New York product has made one start in AAA to begin the campaign, lasting 2.1 innings while allowing five hits, three earned runs, and four walks compared to two strikeouts.

The Jansen news is brutal to hear so early in the season and the Palacios move is a bit surprising given other options on the roster that could have been DFA’d. Hopefully, he passes through and remains in the organization but I wouldn’t be surprised if another club takes a chance on him or if the Jays trade him during that time span.