The Toronto Blue Jays bolstered their pitching depth Thursday evening by signing veteran right-hander Gavin Floyd to what is likely to be a minor league deal. The transaction was first reported by Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Floyd underwent Tommy John surgery in 2012 and hasn’t been a full-time starter since, but has been throwing off the mound for a couple weeks and appears healthy, per Max Wildstein of Scout.com.
Should Floyd stay healthy and make it back to the majors, he would likely find himself in a bullpen role for the Jays. Floyd debuted in 2004 for the Phillies and spent the first three seasons of his twelve-year career with Philadelphia. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox, with whom he spent the majority of his career thus far, following the 2006 season. His best season came in 2008, when he went 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA. While Floyd’s overall numbers are far from spectacular, one area in which he is at least above average is limiting walks. He has averaged just 33.9 walks allowed per season over the course of his career.
Gavin Floyd to Toronto, Jonny Gomes to Japan
Floyd spent the last two season with the Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians, respectively. Due to injury, he has not made more than nine starts in any of the past three years. However, if he is healthy, the 33-year-old could be a nice arm for the Jays to have coming out of the ‘pen, and could provide solid depth in case one of their starters goes down to injury. In any case, this is an extremely low-risk move for Toronto.
In other baseball news, free agent outfielder Jonny Gomes announced Thursday that he would be joining the Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Pacific League, pending the outcome of a physical. Gomes is just the latest victim of a market for free agent outfielders that developed at an unusually slow pace this winter.
Gomes is a veteran of thirteen major league seasons, over the course of which he has played for seven major league teams. While he never hit for average, he had good straight-line power. However, Gomes has primarily been known for being one of the best clubhouse presences in baseball.
Wherever he has played, teammates and coaches alike have raved about what he adds to a locker room. It is not a coincidence that he has played on so many successful teams. The Oakland A’s and Tampa Bay Rays enjoyed relatively successful seasons with him on their rosters, and Gomes won it all with the Boston Red Sox in 2013, on a team that visibly had great chemistry and likely overachieved because of that, and with the Kansas City Royals last season. That squad also featured personalities that just seemed to fit with one another. Whether the 35-year-old Gomes gets another shot in the majors remains to be seen.
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