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For the Blue Jays, Christmas in late August is a chance to upgrade the roster

With a flurry of talented MLB players placed on the waiver wire ahead of the September 1st 40-man roster deadline for postseason eligibility, Christmas has come early to MLB. The Blue Jays could have an opportunity to upgrade their roster for the final wild card push.

By Charles Kime |
Tampa Bay Rays v Los Angeles Angels - Game Two
Tampa Bay Rays v Los Angeles Angels - Game Two / Ronald Martinez/GettyImages
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As per Jeff Passan of ESPN and Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Los Angeles Angels have placed a “dirty half-dozen” of pitchers Lucas Giolito, Matt Moore, Reynaldo López, Dominic Leone, as well as outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk on waivers.

Other players recently placed on waivers include Yankee CF Harrison Bader, White Sox starter Mike Clevinger, Mets starter Carlos Carrasco, Tigers reliever José Cisnero as well as ChiSox SS Elvis Andrus. All players are now free to whichever team wants to pay their remaining 2023 salary.

So what does this mean? As per MLBTradeRumors, “In 2019, MLB and the MLBPA agreed to a single deadline, with no trades allowed at all after the first [trade] deadline. There’s no longer any way for a club to make deals at this part of the calendar but players are still playoff eligible if they join an organization prior to September 1. That means they may find interest on the waiver wire, so long as the claiming club is willing to take on the salary of the player in question.”

Effectively, teams that place players on waivers like this are trying to save some money (effectively one month of their 2023 salary) if another team claims them. And because players are only eligible for postseason play if they’re on a team’s 40-man roster prior to September 1st, placing these players on waivers now allows the required 48 hours for claims to be made prior to the end of the day on Thursday, August 31.

Claims awarded in reverse order of winning percentage as of Thursday

Teams have 48 hours to make a waiver claim, and the waiver order goes in reverse order of standings based on 2023 winning percentage, regardless of league. So if we only look at teams that still have a legitimate chance of winning either their division or a wild card, the most likely teams to make claims would be, in order: Miami, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Boston, Arizona, Minnesota, Chicago Cubs, and then the Toronto Blue Jays.

Implications for the Blue Jays?

After adding Jordan Hicks, Génesis Cabrera and Paul DeJong in separate deals with the Cardinals, as well as Mason McCoy from the Mariners ahead of the August 1st trade deadline, the Blue Jays front office now has another opportunity to upgrade their potential postseason roster as they push for a wild card in September.

Hicks has been a solid contributor since joining the team, with four saves in four opportunities and three holds in 13 appearances for Toronto, pitching to a 3.97 ERA with 10 strikeouts versus only three walks in 11.1 innings. He’s another high leverage, “swing and miss” arm at the back end of the bullpen. Cabrera has been a revelation, allowing only six hits and no runs in 18 appearances covering 16.1 innings since joining the Jays; DeJong was DFA’d on August 19th, and McCoy’s contract was just selected on Tuesday.

But general manager Ross Atkins was also looking to add a right-handed power bat at the trade deadline, noting after he failed to acquire one that, “Some of the players rumoured to be coming our way or even available didn’t seem to be as available to us… The guys that would be quote, unquote, ‘bigger bats’ weren’t as readily available as many assumed or implied.”

Enter Renfroe and Grichuk

While the Jays are only 8th in the waiver order amongst potential postseason teams, they surely will be submitting waiver claims on both Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk in the hope that one of them isn’t claimed by the teams ahead of them in the waiver order. While that seems unlikely, both players could offer some right-handed power off the bench in September. Grichuk, in particular, has mashed left-handed pitching to the tune of .323/.387/.583/.970, with 6 home runs and 12 RBIs in 96 at-bats.

Grichuk, who is already being paid $4.33 million in retained salary by Toronto this year, has slugged a combined 12 home runs in Colorado and Los Angeles this season. Jays fans might also remember his hot September in 2019, when he slugged 8 HRs with 20 RBI and an .816 OPS. He also has 52 postseason plate appearances with St. Louis and Toronto. He’s owed $1.7 million more this year.

Renfroe looks like the real prize here power wise, with 19 HRs and 56 RBI. That would be 2nd on the Jays for home runs and 4th for RBIs. He’s owed about $2 million more in 2023, and has 67 postseason plate appearances over his career with Tampa Bay and Boston.

While both players have been slumping badly of late, a chance to leave the sinking Angels ship and join a team playing meaningful baseball in September might be a powerful elixir?

Matt Moore and Reynaldo López

Another intriguing player is lefty reliever Matt Moore. He pitched 24 postseason innings earlier in his career as a starter with Tampa Bay and San Francisco, but has reinvented himself as a lockdown reliever. He’s 4-1 this season with a 2.66 ERA over 44.0 innings, with 49 strikeouts against only 12 walks. That excellent control has led to an ERA+ of 198 and a WHIP of 1.02.

Only Jordan Romano, Jay Jackson, Tim Mayza, Bowden Francis and Génisis Cabrera have a lower ERA in the Jays’ bullpen. Moore also offers a different repertoire than Mayza from the left side, throwing fastballs (49% of his pitches), changeups (33%) and curveballs (18%) to Mayza’s sinkers (78%) and sliders (22%). He’s owed $1.25 million more this season.

29-year-old righty Reynaldo López has also been outstanding for the Angels since coming over in the trade deadline deal with Lucas Giolito. Since being acquired July 26th, he has a 2.77 ERA in 13 games, with 2 saves in 3 opportunities and 4 holds over 13.0 innings, with 19 strikeouts and 8 walks. He features a 98mph 4-seam fastball with an 88mph slider. He’s owed $604,167 in September, and has 4.0 innings of postseason experience in two appearances with the Nationals and White Sox.

While it’s hard to say this, both might be upgrades over Jay Jackson and Bowden Francis in terms of being postseason difference makers?

Starters

If they felt the need for starting pitching depth, Mike Clevinger has a 3.32 ERA over 18 starts and 97.2 innings, with an ERA+ of 134 (i.e. he’s been 34% better than average), while Giolito has a 4.45 ERA over 27 starts covering 153.2 innings. Clevinger is owed another $1.33 million this year, with a $4 million buyout if his $12 million 2024 mutual option isn’t excercised; Giolito is owed $1.73 million.

GM Atkins has another opportunity to improve his stumbling ball club, which is only 14-12 since the August 1st trade deadline, and 23-20 since the All-Star break in July. With 28 games left, and Bo Bichette, Matt Chapman, Erik Swanson and potentially Brandon Belt (who had back spasms Tuesday according to manager John Schneider) all dealing with injuries, the waiver wire could offer quality MLB reinforcements just when the Blue Jays need them. Let’s go Blue Jays!

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