Kevin Gregg could return to Blue Jays next season

The Blue Jays declined a pair of options on Kevin Gregg this week, making him a free agent. But with no in-house favorite to close games with Scott Downs and Jason Frasor also poised to hit the free agency, Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos told Robert McLoed of the Globe and Mail that he isn’t ready to dismiss the possibility that Gregg could return next season.

“Like I explained to Kevin last night, we’re not prepared to lock him in right now,” Anthopoulos said. “But we may very well come back to him in two weeks or three weeks from now, after we’ve had a chance to continue to work through the off-season and the market.”

Anthopoulos added that Gregg was “very open” about the possibility of returning to the club.

Gregg, 32, posted a 3.51 ERA, 58/30 K/BB ratio and 37 saves in 43 chances over 59 innings this past season. The Jays gave him a $750,000 buyout this week, which suggests that Anthopoulous didn’t think it was worth it to retain Gregg for $3.75 million next season. He certainly isn’t anything special as far as closers go, but the Jays would do well to revisit the situation if the market dries up.