Blue Jays DFA Intriguing Reliever to Make Room for Kazuma Okamoto

The Toronto Blue Jays have signed Kazuma Okamoto and moved a reliever off the 40-man roster to make room for him

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The Toronto Blue Jays stunned much of baseball by reaching a deal with Japanese slugger Kazuma Okamoto on Saturday.

On Sunday, he signed the four-year, $60 million deal he agreed to. With that, the Blue Jays had to make room for him on the 40-man roster as it was already full.

Right-handed reliever Paxton Schultz was the odd man out. The Blue Jays designated him for assignment on Sunday, starting a process that could lead to Schultz moving to a new team.

Paxton Schultz as a Blue Jay

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The move doesn’t mean Schultz won’t remain with the team. But by designating him for assignment, the other 29 MLB teams will have a chance at him. The Blue Jays can trade him or release him within the next seven days. Toronto can also option him to the minor leagues. But he must clear waivers before he can be optioned. If the Blue Jays get lucky, they could send him to Triple-A Buffalo because Schultz doesn’t have the service time to refuse the assignment.

But he’s also attractive to other teams because he’s under 30, has some Major League success and has minor league options remaining.

Schultz made his MLB debut last season with Toronto. He didn’t factor in a decision, but he had a 4.38 ERA in 13 games, with two starts. He pitched 24.2 innings, striking out 28 and walked eight. He did give up four home runs. The strikeout rate of 10.2 per nine innings should intrigue teams, even if it is in a small sample size.

In his debut, he tied the record for the most strikeouts in a debut by a reliever with eight.

Schultz was originally a 14th round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2019 MLB draft. The Utah Valley product spent two years with the Brewers before they traded him to the Blue Jays. As a minor league player, he has a career record of 30-32 with a 4.39 ERA in 152 games, with 72 starts. He struck out 511 and walked 224 in 482 innings.

Okamoto is expected to take over at third base, the one position that was a problem for the Blue Jays last season. For his career overseas he slashed .274/.355/.501 with 277 home runs and 872 RBI. The 29-year-old’s deal has no options in the contract, so he’ll be part of the lineup for the next four seasons.

Toronto has been on a spending spree in free agency this offseason. The Blue Jays signed one of the top free agent starters in Dylan Cease, locked down the KBO MVP in Cody Ponce and bolstered the bullpen with Tyler Rogers. Toronto is doing everything possible to position itself to win a World Series after falling short to the Los Angeles Dodgers last season.