Blue Jays finalize 2026 roster ahead of Opening Day with two tough decisions 

On Wednesday, the Toronto Blue Jays finally made the difficult decision on the two final spots of their Opening Day roster. The Blue Jays announced that utilityman Davis Schneider would claim the last bench spot while promising young pitcher Spencer Miles would grab the eighth and final bullpen spot heading into the 2026 MLB season.

With the addition of Schneider to the 26-man roster, Toronto was forced to designate for assignment long-time Blue Jay Leo Jiménez, since he had no minor league options remaining. As for the inclusion of Miles in their relief corps, the Blue Jays will have one of their key offseason acquisitions, Chase Lee, begin the year in the minors with Triple-A Buffalo.

Blue Jays 26 man roster to begin the year includes one major surprise 

Both decisions were ultimately tough for Blue Jays’ management to come up with in the end. After all, each of the candidates had both their pros and cons in making the final roster. In terms of the bench role, Schneider seemed to have the upper hand right from the get-go, given that he has been with the big league club since making his MLB debut back in 2023. However, a worrisome Spring Training where he posted a feeble .132/.277/.132 slash line with 12 strikeouts in just 38 at-bats put him in serious jeopardy of losing his place on the Blue Jays’ roster. 

Especially with Jiménez having no options remaining, the Blue Jays had to be willing to risk losing the once-promising prospect through waivers. But when Jiménez also endured struggles of his own during training camp, compiling just a .231 average, .541 OPS and three RBIs over 14 spring games, it made the decision just a little easier in the end.

As for Miles, he may not have had the best spring performance, amassing a 3.72 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, with 11 strikeouts in 9.2 total innings pitched through some inconsistencies with his command. However, given his potential high ceiling and the fact that he was a Rule 5 draftee this past winter, it gave Toronto every reason to give him a longer leash to see what he can do at the major league level when the games start counting. 

As a result, despite a sensational spring by Lee, where he posted a stellar 0.00 ERA, 0.63 WHIP, with four strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work, he will have to await his opportunity down in Buffalo to start the 2026 campaign. However, given that convincing performance, along with his prior MLB experience with the Detroit Tigers, the wait shouldn’t be long as he should be the first one in the pecking order to be summoned if any Blue Jays reliever falters in the coming weeks.

With the roster now fully set, the Blue Jays will now begin their quest for World Series redemption starting Friday against the Athletics. Go Jays go and let’s play ball!