The Toronto Blue Jays are set to see their pitching depth take a mild hit, as Easton Lucas is exiting the organization to sign with a foreign team.

Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet had the information on social media:

The Blue Jays placed lefty Easton Lucas on unconditional release waivers today.

Per source, he's expected to sign with a foreign pro team once he clears waivers.

While it's unclear where he'll end up, the presumption is that he'll play in Japan or in Korea moving forward.

A 29-year-old California native, Lucas was drafted in the 14th round of the 2019 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins. Having played his college baseball at Pepperdine, he was acquired by the Blue Jays in August 2024. The team claimed him off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.

He's appeared in three different major league seasons with the Oakland Athletics, Tigers and Blue Jays, going 4-3 in total with an 8.02 ERA. He made six appearances this season (five starts). He had an ERA of 6.66, but turned in an excellent 5.1-inning shutout start on April 8 against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

While it's always nice to have extra arms to call on, the Blue Jays did not necessarily need Lucas at this time, so it's understandable why he would want to pursue other opportunities.

Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Jose Berrios and Trey Yesavage figure to make up four of the five rotation spots in 2026, and Toronto also has Ricky Tiedemann, Eric Lauer and Bowden Francis as rotation candidates on the 40-man roster.

With only 37 players on the 40-man roster, they also have room to go out and sign a starter in free agency if they want to. Could they be interested in bringing back Chris Bassitt or Max Scherzer?

Despite the need for a fifth starter, the Jays have been more linked to offense this offseason. They've been connected to free agent sluggers Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger, and they have been heavily linked to Bo Bichette, who has already spent his entire career with Toronto.

While movement on the free agent market has been stagnant for the most part, things should pick up next week in anticipation of the winter meetings, which take place from Dec. 7-10 in Orlando.

Juan Soto and Willy Adames signed during that time last year, and Garrett Crochet was traded to the Red Sox then as well.

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