Blue Jays announce waiver claim of an uninspiring reliever from Marlins

If you take a look at the Toronto Blue Jays' 40-man roster and find yourself saying "who?!" to some of the names on the list, you're likely not alone. All season long, the Blue Jays have turned to the waiver wire to fill up on Triple-A pitching and on Thursday they struck again.

For the second time in a week, the Blue Jays snagged a pitcher off of waivers from the Marlins. On Sept. 5, it was right-hander Emmanuel Ramirez, who has two scoreless appearances out of the Buffalo Bisons' bullpen under his belt so far. On Thursday, the Jays officially announced (X link) that Brett de Geus has been claimed off of waivers from those very same Marlins.

de Geus was optioned to Triple-A to join the Bisons. In a corresponding move, fellow waiver claim Yerry Rodriguez was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays. Odds are he'll pass through waivers unclaimed and stick on the Bisons' roster, just without occupying a spot on the 40-man.

Blue Jays claim Brett de Geus, DFA Yerry Rodriguez

Starting with de Geus, he's a 26-year-old right-handed pitcher who has parts of two seasons under his belt in the big leagues. He debuted in 2021 and made 47 appearances split between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks. That year, he had a 7.56 ERA and 58 ERA+ while walking 4.5 batters per nine innings.

After a three-year hiatus from a major league mound, de Geus resurfaced at the game's highest level this year, making a total of 11 appearances split between the Seattle Mariners and the Marlins. He had a 5.00 ERA with six strikeouts and two walks in nine innings of work.

Even down in Triple-A, things haven't been pretty for de Geus. He has 36 minor league outings to his name this year and an uninspiring 5.75 ERA to go along with them. He's purely high-minors filler, but it's fair to wonder whether his addition really moves the needle in any way.

Rodriguez, also 26, earned four big league looks from the Blue Jays this year but he struggled in two of them. His 15.43 ERA was inflated by two outings in which he allowed three and five earned runs, but he is a player who's been at the bottom of the totem pole since he joined the organization. He's made five outings for the Bisons, too, and while his 1.80 ERA is certainly nice to look at, he's also walked nine batters and struck out just eight.