Blue Jays: Players that have moved on during the 2022 season

Throughout the 2022 Blue Jays season, the club has had a bit of turnover on their 40-man roster that has seen a few players move on to new organizations.  The most painful loss would have to be Ryan Borucki, as he had turned into an efficient arm with the Seattle Mariners and was a long-standing member of the organization before moving on.  Here is a look at a few of the players that have been on the Blue Jays’ active roster this year but are now in new organizations.

Ryan Borucki

The Blue Jays selected Borucki in the 15th round of the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft and he came up through the minor leagues as a starting pitcher and made his debut in 2018.  Borucki was impressive in his rookie season as he started 17 games and tossed 97.2 innings, posting a 4-6 record and a 3.87 ERA.  Injuries hurt his progression over the next few years and the team elected to DFA Borucki in early June which led to a trade to the Seattle Mariners.

Since joining Seattle, Borucki has been a dependable reliever for the Mariners and hasn’t allowed a run over his last eight appearances which includes all six outings in July.  The 28-year-old lefthander has a 1.98 ERA in 14 appearances, which is actually ballooned by one outing.  In his last 12 times on the mound with the Mariners, he has a 0.69 ERA.  At least the Blue Jays didn’t lose Borucki for nothing as they acquired 23-year-old Tyler Keenan who is currently playing in Vancouver.

The Blue Jays have had to DFA several players this year, however, four of them have moved on from the organization, with Borucki seeing the most success

Tyler Heineman

The Blue Jays signed Tyler Heineman during Spring Training as a safety net for the catcher position and he was needed for a handful of games when Danny Jansen went down with an injury in mid-April.

Heineman got into 10 games and went 4 for 15 (.267) with a pair of doubles.  However, with an abundance at that position, including the rise of top prospect Gabriel Moreno, he was DFA’d in mid-May and the Pittsburgh Pirates claimed him off waivers.  Heineman has been able to hold onto the backup catcher role with the Pirates and his next appearance will mark the 30th since joining the Pirates which also totals the amount he had in his entire career before his arrival in Pittsburgh for the 31-year old.

Heineman is currently posting a slash line of .203/.259/.228, but has only struck out seven times in 86 plate appearances.

Gosuke Katoh

This past off-season, the Blue Jays signed career minor leaguer Gosuke Katoh to a MiLB contract with an invitation to Spring Training.  The California-born middle infielder was a former second-round pick by the New York Yankees in 2013, but now at 27 years old had yet to make a major league appearance until he made the Blue Jays out of Spring Training.

"Blue Jays make some roster moves; Katoh designated for assignment"

Katoh had only limited opportunities with the club but was able to collect his first (and only) major league hit on April 27 with a double against the Boston Red Sox.  Two weeks later, Toronto DFA’d Katoh after going 1 for 7 (.143) with three walks and he was claimed by the New York Mets.  Since leaving Toronto, Katoh has been playing for the Mets Double-A team in Syracuse primarily as their second baseman.  He is posting a slash line of .226/.331/.426 and has six home runs in 115 at-bats.

Sergio Romo
The Sergio Romo experiment was very short-lived as the club signed him at the end of June after being released by the Seattle Mariners a week prior.

Romo made six appearances with the Blue Jays and he looked quite effective in five of the outings.  In those outings, he combined to pitch 4.2 innings and allowed just one base runner while not allowing a run.  However, in his second last appearance, he allowed three runs (two earned).  Romo may have been one of Charlie Montoyo‘s guys as a day after he was fired and John Schneider took over, Romo was DFA’d by the club and he elected for free agency.  Currently, he has not signed on with any team.

Of the four players that have moved on, Ryan Borucki is the only player the team could use, but he is also the only player they got anything back in return.  Do you think the Blue Jays will regret losing any of these players?