Blue Jays select contract of infielder Breyvic Valera

The Blue Jays announced they’ve selected the contract of infielder Breyvic Valera. Lefty Nick Allgeyer was designated for assignment to open 40-man roster space.

Valera will be making his first major league appearance since 2019. He tallied 138 plate appearances between 2017-19 with five different clubs, compiling a .223/.294/.298 line with one home run. Valera missed all of last season when the pandemic prevented him from being able to leave his native Venezuela to report to the team. The Jays passed him through waivers this spring and he’s spent the year at Triple-A, hitting a robust .313/.406/.460 with more walks than strikeouts over 180 trips to the plate.

Allgeyer got his first big league call in May, working a scoreless inning of relief. He’s otherwise spent the campaign at Triple-A. Across eleven appearances (six starts), the 25-year-old has tossed 45 1/3 innings of 4.37 ERA ball. While Allgeyer has struck out opposing hitters at a decent 23% clip, he’s also issued walks to an alarming 12.9% of batters faced.

The Jays will have a week to trade Allgeyer or expose him to waivers. He’s never been a premium prospect, but he has a generally solid minor league resume and still has a pair of option years remaining beyond this season. That could intrigue another team with room to stash Allgeyer on the back on the 40-man roster.