Besides trading away Tim Locastro and Chase De Jong and signing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (which was just made official by a Blue Jays announcement), there are a handful of other Blue Jays-related newsworthy items.
Tolleson Finishes Rehab, Designated and Outirghted
Infielder / reliever Steve Tolleson was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays on Wednesday, removing him from the 40-man roster for the second time this season. Tolleson was first DFAed on April 24 and left the organization as an elected free agent on May 6 before immediately re-signing to use a loophole in the rules that prevents teams from calling up players who were sent down to the minors within 10 days of the assignment.
Tolleson was brought up to the Jays on May 10 and started a handful of games at second. He suffered a groin injury in late May and was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 30, starting his rehab on June 11. Once he ran out of the maximum 20 days allowed for minor league rehab assignments, he had to be activated from the disabled list and added to the 25-man roster, which meant the Blue Jays would have had to send down a player, most likely Ryan Goins.
No other team put in a waiver claim on Tolleson so the 31-year-old was successfully outrighted today. He may elect free agency, as he did before, instead of accepting the assignment.
Steve Tolleson clears waivers, will be outrighted to Buffalo #BlueJays
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) July 2, 2015
It is unknown whether Tolleson will remain (or rejoin) the organization after this latest move. For his sake, at least he collected salary at the major league rate while he was rehabbing (and his brief time in DFA limbo).
Thursday's Lineup
Justin Smoak, after hitting two monster homers on Canada Day, is now back on the bench for John Gibbons' Blue Jays with Chris Colabello at first and Danny Valencia in left field to face the left-handed Wade Miley. Russell Martin will be catching Matt Boyd's second start.
There's the answer to how does Gibbons get Smoak in #bluejays lineup. He doesn't pic.twitter.com/Bac8LcKy91
— Barry Davis (@SNBarryDavis) July 2, 2015
Pillar Awaded
Kevin Pillar is the Blue Jays' player of the month for June, as voted by the local chapter of the BBWAA. In 100 plate appearances, pillar hit .365/.380/.531 with four homers and four doubles, a remarkable turnaround from the big slump he was in during May. Pillar also hit safely in 11 straight games between June 16 and June 27.
Away from the plate, Pillar supplied a steady stream of highlight reel plays in the field, as expected. Here are just three examples.
Down on the Farm
From an International League press release, we learned that Bisons third baseman Matt Hague and reliever Greg Infante were named to the triple-A All-Star Game which will be held in Omaha this year. Congratulations to both for losing their mid-season vacation.
The Bisons have released Daric Barton, who has struggled in triple-A this season.
UPDATE: Reports indicate that Dunedin will see the promotions of right-handed pitchers Sean Reid-Foley and Conner Greene from the Lansing Lugnuts. The D-Jays and the Lugnuts will also swap shortstops, with Dawel Lugo heading down to low-A and Richard Urena getting the call-up.