How Can a Former Blue Jays Starter Return to the Majors in 2026?
On May 11th, the Blue Jays designated Eric Lauer for assignment. This can lead to a few different paths for the lefty, but for now, he has been immediately removed from the 40-man roster. Within seven days, by May 18th, he can either be traded or placed on outright or unconditional release waivers. If another team claims him off waivers, he is immediately added to the new team’s 40-man roster, where he can then be assigned to the 26-man roster or the Minors. Depending on the type of waiver, Lauer’s 8-year Major League career means he can reject an assignment to the Minors and choose free agency instead. It is not often that a club picks up a player through release waivers since that team would then be responsible for the player’s contract. However, once all 29 teams pass on the player or he clears the waivers, the releasing team is then responsible for his contract. In summary, Toronto is saying they no longer have use for Lauer on their team.
It says a lot that a team desperate for pitchers is willing to give up one of their healthy starters. The Blue Jays have struggled to keep players off their Injured List since before the start of the season, and many of those players are pitchers. So why would they voluntarily lose another pitcher? Though Lauer was never officially on the IL, he had to push one of his starts back a day due to a bad case of the flu, and hasn’t recovered his skills since. Manager John Schneider’s solution to this has been putting an opener ahead of the lefty’s starts. The benefit of this is that a starter faces the bottom of an order more than the top. The coach may be trying to set his pitcher up for success, but Lauer has complained that this messes with his routine. He’s even gone so far as to say that he hates the opener strategy. The 30-year-old said he hoped Toronto wouldn’t continue with the openers, but he never got his wish.
When Schneider was asked to respond to his pitcher’s concerns, he had a lot to say: “I respect everyone's opinion. I know the end of his quote was 'it's above my pay grade’, and it definitely is above his pay grade as to how we use him. We're trying to win; you know what I mean? My job is to put him in spots to succeed. That's what I try to do. He's aware of that. He gets that. I think that anyone who's been bounced around a little bit wants to start. I get it. He's on board with us, just trying to win and go out and execute until we take the ball from the big fella and do it again the next time. It's just reminding guys, if you don't like your role, come talk to me. Come talk to Pete. That goes for everybody. You don't like it when I take you out as a starter. All right, come talk to me. Don't tell you guys. Come tell me. So that was it, basically it was quick. I think the message was, like, you pitch, I decide." It seems conflicts behind the scenes could be a reason Lauer is no longer a member of Toronto’s pitching staff. When asked more recently about the reason for the assignment, Schneider replied, “Just results. Tough conversation because of what he did last year. I know it was kind of back and forth with him this year, bullpen and starting. Just felt like we needed to go in a different direction. That's it. Those conversations suck. Baseball's hard. We get it. Hopefully, he can get back to the stuff being where it was last year."
In the meantime, Toronto has chosen to replace Lauer with Yariel Rodríguez. Though the 29-year-old was selected from the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, this isn’t his Major League debut, nor is he a rookie. When he made his debut in 2024, he actually started 21 games for the Blue Jays. Last season, the righty was an important member of the bullpen, appearing in 66 games, including one start, and posting a 3.08 ERA. Through his 11 games in Buffalo this season, his ERA is 2.63. In the one inning he pitched since being brought up, he had two strikeouts and allowed no earned runs. He even got to catch Daulton Varsho’s Walk-Off Grand Slam while warming up in the bullpen on Wednesday. However, it will still be a while until any of the starting pitchers on the IL return, and it doesn’t look like Toronto intends to use Rodriguez to fill that spot. Before Lauer’s last start, Spencer Miles was his opener, but the rookie pitched three innings instead of the usual one. This has caused speculation that he might be promoted to a starter. This coming Saturday, the Jays have confirmed there will be a spot start, and there’s a good chance that could be Miles. Fans can only hope this drastic change won’t kick their team while it’s already down. Toronto still has many starters and relievers they can rely on, and maybe removing a a struggling arm will put them on a path to success.
