Report: Blue Jays have interest in Raisel Iglesias

Iglesias, 35, is a right-handed pitcher from Cuba who has pitched at the backend in the backend of the rotation for years. Over his 11 big league seasons, Iglesias has a 2.90 ERA and 3.20 FIP in 736 innings pitched, picking up 253 saves in 291 opportunities.

His most recent season was with the Atlanta Braves, where Iglesias posted a 3.21 ERA and 3.31 FIP in 67.1 innings pitched, with a 27.4 K% and 6 BB%. The 35-year-old gave up a handful of long balls, as his eight home runs given up gave him a 1.07 HR/9. It’s around his career average, as he has a 1.01 HR/9 in his 11 big league seasons.

Although the 2025 season was Iglesias’ worst since the 2019 season, he was coming off his career year in 2024. That season, also with the Braves, he posted a 1.95 ERA and 2.65 FIP in 69.1 innings pitched, with a 26.3 K% and 5 BB%. Overall, he picked up 34 saves in 38 opportunities.

The backend of the bullpen is one area where the Blue Jays will need to improve. That said, if they were to sign Iglesias, that’d have to be a move similar to them signing Yimi García last off-season, rather than them signing Jeff Hoffman last off-season. Ideally, they would sign Díaz or Robert Suárez as Hoffman’s replacement in the closer role, with Iglesias moving into a setup role in this scenario.

Either way, it’s going to be a busy off-season for the Blue Jays, as they need to bring in a bat (or two), two starting pitchers, and a handful of relievers. It’ll be interesting to see what they do when things start moving.