Toronto Blue Jays Sign Pair of Veterans to Minor League Contracts

With three weeks to go until spring training, the Toronto Blue Jays have made some roster moves, bringing in veteran catcher Christian Bethancourt and veteran reliever Richard Lovelady.

Catcher Christian Bethancourt (60) hits an RBI single against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eighth inning at PNC Park in 2024. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

With three weeks to go until spring training, the Toronto Blue Jays have brought in a pair of veterans on minor league deals.

The team announced on Wednesday that they have signed catcher Christian Bethancourt and veteran lefty Richard Lovelady. Both players will be given invites to spring training.

OFFICIAL: We’ve signed C Christian Bethancourt and LHP Richard Lovelady to Minor League deals with invites to #SpringTraining. pic.twitter.com/PgjyNKQFQn

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) January 22, 2025

The 33-year-old Bethancourt is a native of Panama who has spent parts of eight years in the big leagues with the Atlanta Braves, Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins and Chicago Cubs.

He appeared in 62 games in 2024, playing 38 for Miami and 24 for Chicago. He hit .241 in that action and is a .259 liftime hitter. Not much of a power threat, he has 35 career jacks, including 11 in both 2022 and 2023.

The Blue Jays only have two catchers on the 40-man roster right now, so they could use depth at the position. Alejandro Kirk and Tyler Heineman are the only options currently.

As for Lovelady, he's a 29-year-old Georgia native who has spent parts of five years in the big leagues with the Kansas City Royals, Athletics, Cubs and Rays. Lifetime, he's 5-12 with a 4.98 ERA. He appeared in a career-high 35 games last season between the Cubs and Rays. He had a 3.77 ERA with Tampa over 28 of those games.

He's thrown 99.1 innings in his career and will try to stick in Toronto, where the Jays are trying to rebuild one of the worst units in baseball.

They've added Jeff Hoffman and Yimi Garcia out there already this offseason.

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