Minor League Baseball

Former Tampa Bay Rays Pitcher Ryan Yarbrough Gets MiLB Deal in Toronto

Yarbrough is going back to the Blue Jays as he looks to make the team again. He ended the year with Toronto in 2024.
Brady Farkas|
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ryan Yarbrough (35) pitches to the New York Mets during the fourth inning at Rogers Centre on Sept 9.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ryan Yarbrough (35) pitches to the New York Mets during the fourth inning at Rogers Centre on Sept 9. | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

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Toronto Blue JaysTampa Bay Rays

Former Tampa Bay Rays stalwart Ryan Yarbrough is headed back to the Toronto Blue Jays, signing a minor league deal with the franchise on Thursday.

The information came from Robert Murray of Fansided on social media:

Free-agent pitcher Ryan Yarbrough and the Toronto Blue Jays are in agreement on a minor-league contract, sources say. The deal includes an invite to spring training.

Yarbrough ended the 2024 season with Toronto and then elected free agency at the conclusion of the World Series.

The 33-year-old appeared in 12 games for the Jays last season after coming over from the Los Angeles Dodgers. He threw 31.1 innings for Toronto with a 2.01 ERA.

A seven-year veteran of the Tampa Bay Rays, Dodgers, Kansas City Royals and Blue Jays, he's 53-40 lifetime with a 4.21 ERA. He has appeared in 196 career games, making 68 starts.

He was a frequent "opener" for the Rays as they popularized the pitching strategy.

His best bet to make the Blue Jays appears to be as a multi-inning relief option. The Jays already figure to have starting pitchers with Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios and Bowden Francis. Yariel Rodriguez is also rotation depth currently on the 40-man roster.

The Blue Jays are coming off a season in which they went 74-88 and finished last in the American League East.

However, after adding Scherzer, Anthony Santander, Andres Gimenez and Jeff Hoffman, they are feeling more confident about their opportunity in 2025.

The regular season begins on March 27.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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