Blue Jays are one of the teams more interested in free agency Raisel Iglesias”, Francis Romero reports. It’s logical with Toronto looking for a late-game arm. They’re also linked to Edwin Diaz At the top of the relief market.
Entering his age-36 season, Iglesias remains one of the best relievers in MLB. The Cuban-born right-hander posted a 3.21 ERA in 67 1/3 innings with the Braves. Iglesias was 29-34 in save chances, narrowly missing out on his sixth career 30-save game. Iglesias slugged opponents at an above-average 27.4% rate while limiting his walk rate to 6%. He has a swing rate of nearly 15 percent while frequently forcing opponents out of the strike zone.
Overall, this year has been Iglesias’ worst year since at least 2019. This can be largely attributed to an early-season home run surge. He gave up seven long balls before the end of May and posted a nearly 6.00 ERA in June. Once he got control of the plate, Iglesias looked like his usual high-flying self. Over the past four months, he has a 1.96 ERA and a 29.3% strikeout rate. Opponents are hitting .163/.224/.219 with home runs in their last 174 games.
Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins has said they won’t commit to retaining Jeff Hoffman In the ninth inning. Signing the closer will allow head coach John Schneider to use Hoffman as a leverage arm for multiple innings early in games. Hoffman has allowed the second-most homers (15) among MLB relievers this year. Long passes are also a big concern for Iglesias, but not to the same degree.
Iglesias’ upper age limit is two years. He deserves an eight-figure annual salary. The Warriors didn’t generate much interest in Iglesias last summer, who was earning $16. He’s boosted his stock by allowing just one run in 23 2/3 frames after the deadline, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could earn a salary similar to what he’s getting this year on the open market. That’s especially true if he accepts one year of guarantees, although MLBTR projects he’ll get a two-year deal at $13 per year.
The Dodgers were the only team to publicly contact Iglesias this offseason. The Braves have no obvious backup players and could remain in contact, but president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said this week that their short-term focus is on shortstop and the rotation. If Iglesias receives a strong two-year offer this month, he could sign with another team before the Braves are ready to turn to the bullpen.
