The bullpen was a clear issue for the Toronto Blue Jays this season, and one of their first real moves of the offseason was to create more space for potential newcomers.
Right-hander Nick Sandlin, 28, came to the Blue Jays alongside Andrés Giménez in last offseason’s trade with the Cleveland Guardians. He’s got an impressive 3.19 ERA across a five-year big-league career, and that number was even better in a 16 1/3-inning sample size with Toronto (2.20).
However, the best ability is availability, and unlike his tenure in Cleveland, Sandlin wasn’t able to stay on the mound for Toronto this year. He had a right lat strain in April that cost him two months, then hit the injured list for the rest of the season in July with right elbow inflammation.
Sandlin was ramping back up by the postseason, but wasn’t able to return in time to make an impact on the Blue Jays’ World Series run. And as it turns out, this may have been his only season in Toronto.
On Friday, the Blue Jays outrighted Sandlin off the 40-man roster, according to the transactions log on his MLB.com roster page. This means he also cleared waivers at some point this week, a move that was not widely reported. In all likelihood, Sandlin was removed from the 40-man to make room for a minor-leaguer the teams wants to protect from the Rule 5 Draft.
Because Sandlin has three years of major-league service time, he is eligible to elect free agency, though he has not yet officially elected to do so as of Saturday morning.
Sandlin would have been arbitration-eligible for the third time this offseason, so it appears the Blue Jays simply weren’t willing to give him whatever guaranteed salary he would have been granted through that procedure. He made $1.6 million this season, up from $1.1 million the year before, so it’s reasonable to assume he would have been close to $2 million had he stayed.
Rather than non-tendering him, though, the Blue Jays outrighting Sandlin gives them a chance at retaining him on a minor-league salary at the start of the season if he accepts his assignment. He also has all three options remaining, so in theory, a team could shuffle him back and forth between Triple-A and the majors next year.
A pitcher who has had as much success out of big-league bullpens as Sandlin has, however, likely views himself as worthy of a guaranteed roster spot. Even if he doesn’t get one, it would be a surprise to see Sandlin happily stay off the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster and try to earn his way back up the depth chart in spring training.
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