Josh

Fleming

The 29-year-old southpaw opted to explore the free agent market rather than accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday, but ultimately, he made the decision that a return to the Blue Jays made the most sense for him. He’ll continue to function as extra pitching depth at Triple-A Buffalo.

Fleming, 29, was designated for assignment on Tuesday after giving up four runs on six hits over three innings in his lone appearance for the Blue Jays. He’s now free to explore opportunities elsewhere.

Fleming has been unceremoniously booted from Toronto’s bullpen after being asked to soak up three innings following Max Scherzer’s early exit from Monday’s start against the Dodgers after just two innings. The 29-year-old lefty figures to pass through waivers unclaimed and head back to Triple-A Buffalo as emergency depth.

Fleming last appeared in the big leagues two years ago when he pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He will give Toronto an fresh arm for the bullpen who can cover multiple innings.

Jiménez is one of the prominent late-camp cuts for the Blue Jays after a respectable showing as a non-roster invitee, hitting .286 with two homers in 18 Grapefruit League contests. Rodríguez is the notable reliever included in this latest batch after being removed from Toronto’s 40-man roster during the offseason.

The 29-year-old southpaw spent the entire 2025 campaign at Triple-A Tacoma for the Mariners, registering a 4.91 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and a 44/29 K/BB ratio across 84 1/3 innings of work in 47 appearances (three starts). He’ll add pitching depth for the Jays.

Even with George Kirby (shoulder) set to open the season on the injured list, it was always unlikely that Castano would break camp with the big league club. He’ll open the season in the rotation at Triple-A Tacoma while Danner and Fleming function as extra bullpen depth for the M’s.

Fleming pitched to a 4.02 ERA in 25 appearances (three starts) for the Pirates in 2024 before being designated for assignment. He signed a minor league deal with the Mariners and registered a 4.50 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and 13/5 K/BB ratio in 16 innings for Triple-A Tacoma. The Mariners obviously saw enough to bring him back on another minor league deal where he will likely serve as organization depth.

Fleming heads to the Pacific Northwest as emergency pitching depth for Seattle over the final few weeks of the year. The soft-tossing 28-year-old southpaw went unclaimed on waivers last week after being removed from Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster after 25 appearances (three starts) this season in the big leagues.

Fleming went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment last Friday and wound up electing free agency instead of accepting an outright minor league assignment. The 28-year-old southpaw made 25 appearances (three starts) this season for the Pirates.