Where will former Blue Jays slugger land next?

30-year-old first baseman Rowdy Tellez was designated for assignment by the Seattle Mariners before Friday’s game against the Chicago Cubs. The left-handed hitting Tellez had posted a .208/ .249/.434 slash line with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs in 62 games this season.

Tellez was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 30th round of the MLB draft in 2013. The hulking 6’4” 270lbs Tellez made his major league debut in 2018 at 23-years-old and hit .314 with four home runs in his first 23 games. Tellez was traded to Milwaukee in July of 2021 in exchange for Bowden Francis and Trevor Richards.

It’s turned out to be a good trade for all parties involved. While Francis is struggling this season, both he and Richards have contributed in their time for the Blue Jays, while Tellez was a nice power bat for the Brewers, hitting 55 home runs over three seasons, including a 35-homer campaign in 2022.  

His numbers have dipped since then through stints in Pittsburgh and now Seattle and he’s posted negative war numbers the last three years, including a -0.6 bWAR for the Mariners this season. However, it’s interesting timing for the Mariners to let go of Tellez. His 11 home runs were tied for second on the team, and while he didn’t walk a lot (eight walks, 4.3 BB%), he also wasn’t the worst in terms of striking out, with 49 K’s, which was seventh on the team.

A reunion with the Toronto Blue Jays probably isn’t in the cards for Tellez, although he does have some tools that the Blue Jays could utilize if they were to bring him and use him in a pinch hitter / designated hitter platoon type role. For one, he would automatically become the Blue Jays leader in home runs. They are also missing a true power hitting substitute for late in the game. The Jays have had to use a heavy amount of outfielders due to all their injuries, but when Anthony Santander and Daulton Varsho return, it won’t be necessary to carry all the players in that group which includes Davis Schneider, Alan Roden, Jonatan Clase, Nathan Lukes and Myles Straw.

Tellez would be a very one-dimensional option but that one dimension, power hitting against righties, is something the Blue Jays could use more of. There are probably a handful of other teams that could look at bringing in Tellez and using him in a full-time role, but a return to Toronto shouldn’t be completely out of the question.