Why veteran reliever, who is suddenly a free agent, would be a good fit for the Blue Jays

When the Toronto Blue Jays sent Brendon Little down to the minors earlier this season due to his ineffectiveness, it essentially left the team with just two lefties in their relief corps mix. One of them was returnee Mason Fluharty, while the other was offseason pickup Joe Mantiply. Mantiply has since given the Blue Jays quality innings, but Fluharty has struggled immensely so far in 2026, leaving Toronto with only one effective lefty coming out of the bullpen.

The Blue Jays are now presented with the opportunity to upgrade in that area as veteran reliever Andrew Chafin has suddenly been made available by the Cincinnati Reds. Chafin had signed a minor league contract with the Reds back in late March, but has recently opted out of that deal earlier this month to become a free agent, as per Jon Heyman. As a result, the 35-year-old veteran would be a perfect fit for the Blue Jays.

Free agent Andrew Chafin would help address an important need for the Blue Jays

As a proven lefty of 12 years in the major leagues, Chafin has always been tough against left-handed batters, holding them to just a .225 average and .618 OPS for his career. In fact, he has actually been effective overall against any hitters, posting a tidy 3.35 ERA, 1.28 WHIP while averaging greater than a strikeout per inning for his MLB career.

More importantly, Chafin has given up only 39 home runs in his 542 total innings in the majors, as compared to Jays relievers who managed to collectively give up 69 home runs in 597.1 innings last season. Therefore, he can help provide both the veteran stability and strikeout ability that the Blue Jays desperately crave.

For those that are worried about the fact that Chafin is already turning 36 in June, the veteran left-hander has showed no signs of slowing down in recent years. Last season split between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels, he compiled a 2.41 ERA, along with 36 strikeouts in 33.2 innings pitched over 42 relief appearances.

This year, playing for the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate Louisville, Chafin has been lights out, amassing a minuscule 0.96 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, with eight strikeouts in 9.1 innings of work over 10 games of action. With that performance, it is surprising that Cincinnati hadn’t called him up at all, given that their relief corps currently rank 23rd in the league in ERA (4.64), 29th in WHIP (1.61), along with eight blown saves to date.

Now with Chafin available to join any team, the Blue Jays should act fast to scoop him up to form a 1-2 lefty punch with Mantiply. In doing so, it would also allow Fluharty to find his game once again in the minors, much like how Little has turned his fortunes around since his demotion to Triple-A Buffalo. With the Jays in-season additions such as Patrick Corbin and Lenyn Sosa paying dividends to date, they should recruit Chafin to become a part of that distinguished list to help the team going forward.

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