Blue Jays find trade partner for recently DFA'd reliever after Jeff Hoffman signing

It was a short stay in Toronto for Brett de Geus.

The Toronto Blue Jays have trade Brett de Geus to the Pittsburgh Pirates
The Toronto Blue Jays have trade Brett de Geus to the Pittsburgh Pirates | Megan Briggs/GettyImages

The Toronto Blue Jays bullpen is starting to take shape for the upcoming season, with the most recent addition, Jeff Hoffman, taking his place at the back end of the relief corps for 2025. Now that the 32-year-old is in the fold on a three-year deal, it has spelled the end of another Blue Jays reliever's career in Toronto.

Right-hander Brett de Geus was designated for assignment on Jan. 10 to make room for Jeff Hoffman's arrival on the Blue Jays' 40-man roster after the new closer's deal was made official this past weekend.

Blue Jays find trade partner for recently DFA'd reliever after Jeff Hoffman signing

de Geus' Blue Jays career was short-lived and uninspiring, to say the least, and now it's officially over. The Blue Jays announced on Wednesday that they had traded the right-hander to the Pittsburgh Pirates for cash considerations.

A 33rd-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017, de Geus has a career 7.48 ERA and 1.71 WHIP in 61 1/3 innings of relief work over parts of the 2021 and 2024 seasons with the Miami Marlins and the Blue Jays.

Toronto originally claimed de Geus off of waivers from Miami on Sept. 12, as they threw everything against the wall in the bullpen to see what would stick late in the season — which de Geus didn't do. After starting his Blue Jays career in Triple-A Buffalo, posting three scoreless appearances for the Bisons, the 27-year-old got another chance in the majors.

The Blue Jays recalled de Geus on Sept. 25, with four games left on the schedule. His Blue Jays debut on Sept. 27 was forgettable, as his former team, the Marlins, rocked him for four runs on three hits in one inning of work. He did toss 1 1/3 innings of scoreless ball against Miami two days later, but that short two-game stint was all the Blue Jays brass needed to see. He finishes his Blue Jays career with a 15.43 ERA.

de Geus now gets a fresh start in Pittsburgh as he can add the Pirates to his resume. The minor league journeyman previously already had stops with the Texas Rangers, Arizona Diamondbacks Kansas City Royals and Seattle Mariners.

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