Blue Jays claim Preston Guilmet, designate Deck McGuire for assignment

The Blue Jays have claimed right handed pitcher Preston Guilmet off waivers, two days after he was designated for assignment by the Cardinals. To make room on the 40-man roster, Toronto designated Deck McGuire for assignment. Guilmet is out of options and will be added to the 25-man roster, so another transaction is forthcoming.

If the name Preston Guilmet is familiar to you, you either play a lot of Out of the Park Baseball or you remember when the Blue Jays first claimed him in the 2014 offseason before losing him on waivers in the following May—he ended up playing for four different organizations in 2015.

Guilmet, 30, was drafted by Mark Shapiro in 2009 and made his major league debut with Cleveland in 2013 before bouncing around affiliated baseball and spending last year with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

This January he signed as a minor league free agent with St. Louis and was dominating the Pacific Coast League (0.93 ERA, 0.483 WHIP, 35.4 K%, 11 saves) prior to his brief two-day callup to the big leagues and the subsequent DFA. Guilmet’s microscopic ERA and WHIP are fueled by a low BABIP (.107) but that strikeout rate makes him as intriguing as a waiver claim can be. He has a funky windup to deliver his low-90s fastball and a slider.

Deck McGuire finally made his debut with the Blue Jays this season, throwing four games over two stints with Toronto. He also recorded a single in his season debut against the Mets.

GUILMET has replaced D. McGUIRE on the Blue Jays Roster Tree Route Map (R. McGUIRE was re-named as McGUIRE).