Fastball

Toronto Blue Jays Sign Left-Handed Reliever Josh Walker to One-Year Deal

The 30-year-old reliever has made 24 major league appearances over parts of two big-league seasons.

Brady Farkas

New York Mets relief pitcher Josh Walker (91) pitches during the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
New York Mets relief pitcher Josh Walker (91) pitches during the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
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The Toronto Blue Jays made a move to bolster their bullpen on Friday, signing left-handed reliever Josh Walker to a one-year deal.

Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet had the information on social media:

Blue Jays signed lefty Josh Walker to a big-league deal worth $760k per team. The 30-year-old made 10 appearances for the Mets last year while spending most of the season at AAA.

Hagen Danner DFA.

Walker, who was a 37th round pick of the Mets in 2017, has made 24 major league appearances, going 0-1 with a 6.45 ERA. He's only thrown 22.1 major league innings. In 33 Triple-A appearances last year, he went 2-2 with a 4.78 ERA. He was much better for the Mets affiliate in Syracuse (2.83 ERA in 25 appearances) than he was for the Pirates affiliate in Indianapolis (8.00 ERA in eight appearances).

The Blue Jays are clearly counting on him to take a big step forward in his major league career, as evidenced by the MLB deal. Toronto's bullpen needs all kinds of help after being one of the worst units in the sport in 2024. The Jays have already lost former closer Jordan Romano this offseason. Walker joins Yimi Garcia, who was brought back last week on a two-year deal. Those two pair with Erik Swanson and Chad Green in the 'pen as well.

Toronto has also been in the mix for starting pitching on the free agent market. If they are able to grab a starter, they could move Yariel Rodriguez to the bullpen, which would help also.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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