Blue Jays outright Yariel Rodriguez from 40-man roster

Originally posted on Bluejaysnation
By Matthew Spagnuolo | Last updated Dec 6, 2025 7:58 PM ET

The Toronto Blue Jays have outrighted right-hander Yariel Rodriguez off the 40-man roster per an official team announcement. This comes just a few days after the team announced the signing of Cody Pence to a 3-year, $30 million contract.

Rodriguez first signed with the Blue Jays in the winter of 2023 and was brought in as an arm that could potentially start games, which is exactly what happened as he was thrust into the starting rotation for his inaugural campaign. Rodriguez being outrighted is one of the first roster subtractions the team has done in the offseason after outrighting Nick Sandlin just a few weeks ago.

However, there are some key differences with Rodriguez. Ben Nicholson-Smith posted on X shortly thereafter that no teams had put in a claim on Rodriguez when presented with the opportunity to do so via the waiver wire. This makes sense as Rodriguez is due $17 million over the next three seasons, and the team was willing to part with that money for no return. Considering no teams put in a claim for Rodriguez, he’s still in the Blue Jays system based on service time, as per the team’s social media release. This means that Rodriguez will remain on the team heading into Spring Training as he works his way back to the big league roster.

We can deduce a few things from the Yariel move:

1) 29 teams passed on claiming Rodriguez ($17M over next 3 years)

2) Blue Jays would have been OK to see him leave for no return

2) Jays prefer to have Rodriguez off the 40-man, freeing up valuable space for someone else

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) December 6, 2025

Across 21 starts in 2024, Rodriguez put up a 4.47 ERA across 86 and 2/3 innings, posting a 4.2 BB/9 and an 8.8 K9 with a 4.34 FIP. Last season, he was moved to the bullpen, where the Cuban product put up a 3.08 ERA in 66 games; however, he was removed from the team’s playoff roster leading up to the World Series after amassing a 10.13 ERA across four postseason appearances (mostly against the Mariners) and struggled late in the campaign.

It’s hard to say whether Rodriguez will be with the Blue Jays before Spring Training rolls around.

Sure, the opportunity is there to move him back to the big leagues should he crack the Opening Day roster, but $17 million to not be on your big league roster is a tough pill to swallow, although the Jays have parted with big-money contracts before. Rodriguez will likely get every opportunity to earn a bullpen spot this spring, but this recent DFA could mean something is in the works on the offseason front as the Jays clear another roster spot.

This article first appeared on Bluejaysnation and was syndicated with permission.

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