The Blue Jays designated outfielder Bradley Zimmer for assignment, according to a club release. The move opens up an active roster spot for George Springer, who was activated from the 10-day disabled list.
Zimmer, 29, has held a spot on Toronto’s roster since being acquired in an Opening Day trade that sent right-hander Anthony Castro back to Cleveland. He had an extremely limited role this season and struggled a lot when he was put in the lineup, hitting just .105/.209/.237 on the season. Of course, despite appearing in 77 games this year, Zimmer has only 87 plate appearances — a total that reflects his status as a pure late-game defensive replacement and pinch-hitting option. He’s posted solid numbers with the glove and ranks in the 95th percentile in Statcast’s average sprint speed, but it’s hard to ignore the glaring level of offensive production.
That said, it’s certainly difficult for anyone to perform with such scarce opportunities to see big league games in a competitive environment. Zimmer never hit much before the 2022 campaign, but he at least entered the year batting .226/.310/.348 in 858 major league plate appearances. If he was able to reproduce that streak while still functioning in a late-game backup role, he would make for a solid fourth outfielder, but the Jays seem to feel as if the roster spot could be better used elsewhere.
Zimmer was the 21st overall pick out of the University of San Francisco in 2014. Current Toronto GM Ross Atkins was Cleveland’s farm director at the time of Zimmer’s selection and certainly knows him quite well, having spent several years in that role as Zimmer developed into one of the most touted outfield prospects in the game. A high strikeout rate and some apparent struggles against lefties have kept Zimmer from reaching that ceiling, however, and when the Jays added Jackie Bradley Jr. in a major league deal last week, it looked quite likely that Zimmer’s Jays days were numbered.
The deals of anyone who has been on the Major League roster are off limits at this point in the season, so the only decision to DFA Zimmer will be to place him on full waivers or waivers. He technically has enough major league service time to decline a minor league assignment if he clears final waivers, but he does not yet have the five years of service required to decline a final assignment and retain the remainder of his salary. As such, assuming he does indeed come through unclaimed waivers, Zimmer figures to accept the assignment to avoid losing the remainder of his $1.3 million salary this season.
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