Blue Jays remove Devon Travis and Ryan Tepera from the 40-man roster

With Monday being the deadline to reinstate players from the 60-day Injured List, the Blue Jays were forced to make some difficult roster decisions. They needed to free up two spots on the 40-man in order to fit Lourdes Gurriel, Ryan Borucki, Tim Mayza, Matt Shoemaker, Devon Travis, and the newly-acquired Chase Anderson on the roster.

The two players that ended up being casualties of the roster shuffle were Devon Travis and Ryan Tepera. The Jays, of course, had already dropped depth relievers Buddy Boshers, Ryan Dull, and Brock Stewart from the 40-man roster last week.

Moving on from Travis really isn’t a surprise. Though there was always loads of potential in his bat, Travis just simply couldn’t stay healthy. He missed all of the 2019 season due to a knee injury suffered during spring training. I hope he gets a fresh start somewhere and can manage to resurrect his career. He’s always been a very likable player and it’s heartbreaking to witness what he’s been through since breaking into the league in 2015.

Designating Tepera for assignment is a little bit more of a surprise. Though he missed a good chunk of 2019 due to an issue with bone spurs in his elbow, the 32-year-old reliever had been a mainstay in Toronto’s bullpen for a couple of years, pitching adequately in some high-leverage situations. But given the fact he was due for a raise in arbitration, I guess it isn’t all that shocking the team opted to let him go. The Jays now have seven days to either trade, release or outright Tepera.

These two moves mean that there’s officially no players left from the 2015 and 2016 playoff teams left on the roster. Travis was also the final remaining connection to the Roy Halladay trade from back in 2009. Kyle Drabek was let go, Travis d’Arnaud was part of the R.A. Dickey trade, and Travis was acquired for Anthony Gose who was acquired for Brett Wallace who was acquired from Michael Taylor, the third guy in the Halladay deal.