The Jays are working to fill out the last pieces in their bullpen.
Entering the regular season, the Toronto Blue Jays seem to have 11 of their 13 spots on the pitching staff filled.
In the starting rotation: Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Trey Yesavage, Max Scherzer and Cody Ponce.
In the bullpen: Jose Berrios, Eric Lauer, Louis Varland, Jeff Hoffman, Tyler Rogers, and Mason Fluharty.
Shane Bieber and Yimi Garcia are both going to start the year on the injured list but will play prominent roles on the pitching staff once they are healthy.
As a result of all this, Toronto is looking for two more arms to fill out its bullpen, and it has several choices, including Braydon Fisher, Brendon Little, Yariel Rodriguez and a slew of Rule-5 Draft choices.
There's also the newly-signed Joe Mantiply, who the team signed to a minor league deal on Tuesday night.
Per Mitch Bannon of The Athletic:
#BlueJays announce they've signed Joe Mantiply to a minor-league deal. He joined them late last season and pitched in AAA.
They've historically cornered the market on 2022 All Stars: Kirk, Vladdy, Giménez, Springer, Mantiply, Espinal, France, Romano, Manoah
Here's what you need to know:
About Mantiply
An eight-year veteran of the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks, he's appeared in 256 career games. He's pitched in 250 games for the Diamondbacks, helping them reach the World Series in 2023 and earning that All-Star appearance in 2022. He's 11-13 for his career with a 4.54 ERA. He has three career saves.
After moving on from the D'backs in 2025, he made 14 appearance for Triple-A Buffalo in the Jays system, going 2-1 with a 3.45 ERA.
What are his big league chances?
Unlikely. With Lauer and Fluharty in the mix, does the team really need three lefties? Also, he's not on the 40-man roster, which means there would need to be some roster maneuvering in order to bring him onto the major league roster.
For a team as deep as the Jays, it would be hard to see them parting with someone they really like in order to bring Mantiply in, especially considering Bieber and Garcia are not expected to miss much time overall.
Of course, there is the chance that the team moves one of Lauer or Berrios, creating another spot.
In other Jays news
Young right-hander Trey Yesavage is already making an impact on other pitchers around the league, including St. Louis Cardinals lefty Matthew Liberatore. He told the following story to 'Foul Territory TV' recently.
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