Blue Jays pay tribute to late-2000s breakout reliever after tragic death at 45

The Toronto Blue Jays announced the passing of former MLB pitcher Biran Wolfe who died at the age of 45.

Wolfe's wife Rachel shared the news of his passing on a Facebook post earlier this week, but didn't reveal a cause for death. Though she did write, "I’m sorry to write this, but after a really, really difficult and torturous battle, Brian Wolfe passed away early this morning,”

The Fullerton, California native came to the Blue Jays in a trade for Canadian third baseman Corey Koskie in 2006. Koskie had spent the first seven years of his career with the Twins, before joining the Blue Jays for one year in 2005.

Wolfe was originally drafted in the sixth round of the 1999 MLB draft by Minnesota and spent seven seasons in their farm system, then went to the Milwaukee Brewers and spent part of the 2005 season with their minor league affiliates.

The Blue Jays and Brewers made the trade that brought Wolfe to Toronto on Jan. 6, 2006, and he would spend the next three seasons with the Blue Jays and their minor league affiliates. He pitched in 72 games total for Toronto over those years, pitching to a 3.81 ERA, in 82.2 innings.

After the 2009 seasons, he played in Japan where he would spend the next nine years carving out a respectable career and even teamed with one of Japan's biggest superstars.

Brian Wolfe had a great run in Japan and teamed with Shohei Ohtani

Wolfe spent nine seasons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league, playing with the Nippon Ham Fighters, Softbank Hawks and Seibu Lions. In 2014 and 2015 he helped Softbank win the Japan Series.

In 2013 he played alongside Shohei Ohtani for a year with the Ham Fighters. Ohtani was only 18-years-old at the time and in 77 games he hit .238/.284/.376 with three home runs in 77 games.

Wolfe ended up pitching 184 games over those nine years in Japan, starting 110 of those games. He threw 831 innings and racked up a 56-42 record with a 3.39 ERA, and 458 strikeouts.

Other former MLB players have passed along their condolences on social media as well, including Brandon Barnes. The former Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies and Cleveland Guardians outfielder wrote that Wolfe was, "One of my best friends and a mentor," and said, "Life is too short, don’t just exist through it."

Everyone at Jays Journal passes their condolences along to the family and friends of Brian Wolfe.

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