Blue Jays have a conundrum on their hands with Rule 5 Draft pitcher

The Rule 5 pitcher most Toronto Blue Jays fans are focusing on is Spencer Miles, whom the team took from the San Francisco Giants back in December. He's not a lock to make the Opening Day roster, but his odds are looking good thanks to the strict restrictions placed on Rule 5 picks (i.e., they must remain on a team's active roster for the whole season, lest they get offered back to their original club).

However, their 2024 Rule 5 pick, Angel Bastardo, is also facing his own rostering deadline because he missed the entire 2025 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Unfortunately, after a middling performance in spring training, the 23-year-old right-hander has been informed that he won't open the 2026 season in Toronto.

Because he was picked and then injured, there are some unique rules that apply to Bastardo. The Blue Jays are almost certain to lose him now, so the priority should probably become ensuring that he doesn't return to the Boston Red Sox, his original team.

Blue Jays facing tight timeline to keep Angel Bastardo away from Red Sox

The process of what happens next is simple enough; Bastardo will be placed on outright waivers. If a team claims him, they'll need to put him on their 26-man roster immediately, since the Rule 5 rules will still apply until he's been on an active roster for 90 days.

If no one claims him, then the Blue Jays must offer Bastardo back to the Red Sox for $50,000 (half of the original price they paid to acquire him). At that point, the Red Sox would not have to keep him on their active roster.

The other alternative is trading Bastardo to a team between now and 24 hours prior to Opening Day (when rosters must be formally announced), which is a ridiculously tight timeline to pull a deal off. Like a waiver claim, the aquiring team would have to keep him around on the active roster or offer him back to Boston.

For the optimistic crowd, there does exist a few options for the Blue Jays to keep him around, unlikely as they may be. The most obvious is that Bastardo clears waivers and the Red Sox don't claim him back, at which point he can be optioned to the minors. Toronto could also work out a deal with the Sox's front office to simply acquire the full rights to Bastardo's contract, which would allow them to option him without any waivers shenanigans.

This all sounds more complicated than it really is; the most likely outcome is that Bastardo ends up back in Boston or with whatever team claims him off waivers. It'll be disappointing to lose him after he never got a chance to prove himself with the Blue Jays due to injury, particularly if the former outcome comes to pass.