At first glance, the Josh Fleming signing barely registers as news.
A left-handed reliever. A minor-league deal. A non-roster invite to spring training. The kind of transaction teams make quietly, almost reflexively, as pitchers and catchers prepare to report.
And yet, this move feels heavier than it looks.
Toronto’s decision to bring Fleming into camp isn’t about upside or star power. It’s about uncertainty — and the growing sense that the Blue Jays are still searching for answers they hoped they’d already have.
Fleming hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2024. With Pittsburgh, he posted a 4.02 ERA across 25 games, bouncing between relief work and a few starts.
His numbers were serviceable, but not secure enough to prevent multiple designations for assignment. By mid-season, he was gone.
Seattle took a chance a month later. Then another. Then another. None of them led back to a big-league mound.
By 2025, Fleming was a Triple-A arm — useful, durable, but no longer trusted in leverage moments. When the Mariners finally let him walk in November, there was no rush from around the league to reclaim him.
Which makes Toronto’s interest notable — not because Fleming is a breakout candidate, but because of what his presence suggests.
The Blue Jays aren’t adding him to solve the bullpen. They’re adding him because the bullpen still feels unsettled.
Yes, Fleming brings left-handed depth. Yes, spring training is about competition. But this signing lands differently when viewed alongside Toronto’s broader relief picture.
The team continues to collect options — not answers. Non-roster invites. Low-risk arms. Pitchers who can survive innings, but don’t necessarily own them.
Fleming fits that mold perfectly.
His career tells a familiar story: a promising rookie year with Tampa Bay during the shortened 2020 season, when he posted a 2.78 ERA and helped the Rays reach the World Series. Since then, the trajectory has flattened. The role shifted. The margin for error disappeared.
Now, he arrives in Dunedin with little noise and even fewer expectations.
That’s the quiet tension here.
If Fleming matters in March, what does that say about April?
Toronto also invited Tanner Andrews and Nate Garkow to big-league camp — more arms, more depth, more competition. On paper, it looks proactive. In practice, it feels cautious. Almost hesitant.
Teams confident in their bullpen structure don’t need this many contingency plans.
The Blue Jays aren’t panicking. But they’re not settled either.
And that’s why this move lingers longer than it should.
Because if a pitcher who hasn’t stuck in the Majors in two seasons suddenly becomes relevant, it won’t be because he changed overnight. It will be because Toronto still hasn’t decided who it truly trusts when games tighten and silence fills the dugout.
Josh Fleming may never throw a meaningful pitch for the Blue Jays.
Or he may quietly become necessary.
And if it’s the latter, the real question won’t be what Fleming earned — but why Toronto needed him at all.
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