Blue Jays News: Joe Mantiply elects free agency, 3 stars earn All-MLB nods, Liam Hendriks retires

The Toronto Blue Jays’ offseason transaction wire is starting to move already. One veteran reliever is back on the market after a frustrating end to his season. Meantime, there were some other notable notes regarding the Blue Jays on Tuesday (Sept. 29) including three standout performers who have been nominated for the the All-MLB ballot and a former Toronto pitcher closed the book on a remarkable 14-year career.

Departures, deserving recognition and one final save

Joe Mantiply elects free agency after clearing waivers

Joe Mantiply is once again a free agent. The 35-year-old left-handed cleared waivers and elected free agency. Mantiply finished 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 22 strikeouts over 27 innings. Opponents hit .265 against him in 25 appearances in his only season with the Blue Jays.

The veteran joined Toronto on a minor-league deal in March and made his Blue Jays debut in early April. He posted a 3.09 ERA over 11.2 innings that month, and had a strong start to May, holding hitters to a .200 average and allowing no runs over six innings of work.

But after an appearance on May 17, Mantiply had to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee iwhich kept him out until August. Mantiply returned when rosters expanded on Sept. 1 and he just wasn't the same pitcher afterwards. He recorded a 4.82 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over eight September outings before he was demoted.

Kazuma Okamoto, Dylan Cease and Louis Varland named All-MLB nominees

While it wasn't a great season for a lot of the roster, three of the Blue Jays' best performers are in contention for league-wide honours.

Rookie third baseman Kazuma Okamoto, starting pitcher Dylan Cease and reliever Louis Varland were named finalists for the 2026 All-MLB Team. None of the selections should come as a surprise though as each of them had strong seasons

Okamoto immediately established himself as a middle-of-the-order threat, hitting a franchise rookie-record 33 home runs with 92 RBI and a .762 OPS. His power was one of the few constants in a lineup that struggled to meet expectations.

Cease gave Toronto an ace-calibre season, recording a 2.40 ERA with 239 strikeouts over 169 innings. His combination of run prevention and swing-and-miss dominance should also place him firmly in the American League Cy Young Award conversation.

Varland anchored the bullpen with 35 saves, a 1.27 ERA and 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings. He should also be in the running for the Reliever of the Year award later this winter.

The All-MLB Team consists of the best players at each position regardless of league. Voters select first and second teams, with five starting pitchers and two relievers chosen for each.

Former Blue Jays reliever Liam Hendriks announces retirement

Liam Hendriks is hanging up his cleats after 14 major-league seasons.

The longtime reliever has announced his retirement, joking that his arm had “exactly zero fastballs left” and that throwing harder than a light breeze now required an extended recovery. Hendriks was a three-time All-Star, a two-time American League Reliever of the Year and the 2023 AL Comeback Player of the Year.

He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in January 2023 and completed chemotherapy that April. After announcing he was cancer-free, Hendriks returned to the mound in May and later received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the ESPYs.

He also said, "To the cities that adopted me, the fans that cheered for me, my family, and every umpire who definitely missed a strike call on the corner: After years of staring down hitters, I have decided to officially retire from Major League Baseball."

One of those cities was Toronto, although Hendriks’ time with the Blue Jays was brief. He pitched in 61 games over a year and a half, including three starts. IN 78 total innings he recorded a 3.46 ERA with 79 strikeouts a 1.103 WHIP and 118 ERA+.

Hendricks was selectd off waivers by the Blue Jays before the 2014 season, then was traded at the deadline to Kansas City with Erik Kratz for Danny Valencia. Kansas City then traded him back to Toronto after the 2014 season and he spent all of 2015 with the Blue Jays, pitching in five innings of playoff baseball during their run to the ALCS that year. He was then traded to the Athletics for Jesse Chavez in the offseason.

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