Nori Aoki designated for assignment, Leonel Campos recalled

As the meme goes, life comes at you fast: a day after going 3-for-4 with a home run and a Blue Jay of the Day nod, outfielder Norichika Aoki has been designated for assignment by the Blue Jays. Reliever Leonel Campos has been recalled to fill his vacated spot.

Aoki, 35, came to the Blue Jays as part of the trade deadline deal with the Astros for Francisco Liriano. Ironically, it may be because of his trademate Teoscar Hernandez’s performance in Buffalo over the past two weeks that led to this move as the Jays needed to move an outfielder to give Hernandez some playing time in the bigs. In his 12 games with Toronto, Aoki hit three homers and batted .281/.294/.594.

The timing of this move makes me think that there may be some interest in Aoki on the post-waiver trade market by a contender. It is unknown whether Aoki has passed through trade waivers yet, but he (or the player coming back) can be passed through during his seven days in DFA limbo.

Another roster move will come tomorrow as the Blue Jays will need a starter—it is Tom Koehler’s turn, but he was found listed in the bullpen section of today’s lineup card and Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae spotted Brett Anderson at the Rogers Centre.

With the recent DFAs of Aoki and T.J. House, the Blue Jays currently have 38 players on their 40-man roster.