Blue Jays release John Axford

This surprised me, but then it is likely a smart move.

The team has released John Axford. Axford, you remember, has a ‘stress reaction’ in his elbow, and was going to be shut down for a month and then reevaluated from there. So, at best he wasn’t likely to be in the majors for a couple of months.

At the same time, the team has given Bud Norris some money to ‘stay around’ to give them more time to decide if they want him on the active roster. No word on whether there is a new deadline for them to make their decision.

I have a feeling we won’t know who all will be in the bullpen until pretty close to opening day.