Breyvic Valera is back as four new players join the Blue Jays’ 60-man pool

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The Blue Jays have claimed utility guy Breyvic Valera off of waivers from the San Diego Padres AND they’ve added LHP Bryan Baker, infielder Patrick Kivlehan, and outfielder Josh Palacios to the 60-man pool.

Valera has had an incredible tour of the league over the past couple of years. He was one of the players sent from the Dodgers to the Orioles for Manny Machado, then he got purchased by the Giants, then he got claimed off of waivers by the Yankees, then he got claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays, then he got claimed off of waivers by the Padres, and now he’s back in Toronto.

He played in five games for the Blue Jays late in September of 2019 when rosters expanded, so I wouldn’t blame you for not remembering him. Over 54 Major League games, Valera has slashed a .223/.294/.298 line, but his .303/.389/.480 line in Triple-A in 2019 makes him an interesting name to take a flyer on.

And then we have the other three guys getting added to the pool. So, by adding four new players, the Jays are up to 62 players in their 60-man pool. Something ain’t right! The only way that could be possible is if multiple players have contracted COVID-19.

Jonathan Davis, Elvis Luciano, Hector Perez, and Brandon Drury have all been placed on the 10-day Injured List, so it’s pretty reasonable to assume that, based on the fact four new players joined the 60-man pool, Davis, Luciano, Perez, and Drury have contracted the virus.

I suspect that these random additions to the 60-man pool is something we’ll see a fair amount around the league as teams navigate the virus. A player getting the virus and going on the COVID Injured List is essentially like them going on the 60-day Injured List. If multiple players get the disease at the same time, which is classified as an “outbreak”, players can be added to the 60-man pool without being subject to release afterwards as they would be otherwise.

Boy oh boy, this season is going to be fucking chaos.