BLUE JAYS SHORTSTOP FREE

“They could have made a decision in the spring, but it would be a much bigger challenge then (to get Tulowitzki signed) versus now when not a lot of off-season has taken place,” Cohen reportedly told Rosenthal. “If they are really going to go with young guys next year, it’s best to give Troy the opportunity now to seek out the best situation,” Cohen said.

But Cohen told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal they were grateful to the general manager and Toronto’s president and CEO Mark Shapiro for coming to the decision to release the player earlier in the off-season. That doesn’t mean he’s not going to do it but, candidly, I don’t think that’s likely.”Īt the time, the Jays planned to wait until spring training to label Tulowitzki as an everyday or part-time player. “That would be unlikely, based on what has occurred in the last 2 1/2 years. “He will have to overachieve to play shortstop at an above-average level with above-average offensive performance for 140 games,” Atkins said. When he was asked if the 12-year league veteran would be able to play regularly and at the standard the Jays require from an everyday big-leaguer at that position, Atkins said it was not likely. While the infielder said in August he intended to play next season, and at shortstop to boot, Atkins was less optimistic at an annual luncheon with the local chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America last week.

BLUE JAYS SHORTSTOP FREE

Solarte only Blue Jay set free at MLB contract deadlineĪtkins told Sportsnet broadcaster Hazel Mae the club released Tulowitzki for “roster flexibility” and that the shortstop’s reaction was “professional and respectful.”Ītkins had previously planned a meeting with Tulowitzki and his representatives during the annual winter meetings, happening now in Las Vegas, which is also the shortstop’s home base. Jays’ Tulowitzki will likely have to ‘overachieve’ to hold down shortstop job Improving the starting rotation is Blue Jays’ main focus Tulowitzki’s agent reportedly told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that Tulowitzki “would love” to play with the Oakland Athletics in the Bay Area, where he is from originally. Tulowitzki is now a free agent should he sign with another club, Tulowitzki’s new team would pay the MLB minimum while the Jays would pick up the rest of the tab. “Through many conversations with Troy and his representative Paul Cohen, and with consideration to what is in the best interest of both sides, we made the decision to release Troy today,” general manager Ross Atkins said in a release announcing the parting of ways between the two sides. The uproar surrounding his release Tuesday focused on the weight his current contract still carries - two years and about $39 million (U.S,) on the company payroll - rather than the dashed hopes Tulowitzki would return to the player he once was. Instead, the 34-year-old veteran shortstop departs having not played a major-league game since July 2017 because of multiple injuries.

Toronto never won the championship the ever-competitive Tulowitzki coveted.

It ended with a bang, too, but not the kind Tulowitzki would have wanted, as the Jays released the veteran shortstop on Tuesday. The Troy Tulowitzki era in Toronto began with much fanfare, with a while-you-were sleeping blockbuster trade struck by then-Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopolous at the July deadline that helped spark the club’s first post-season appearance in 22 years.

Blue jays shortstop