Jordan Romano and John Axford are back

Today is a big day for those who are fans of Canadians playing for the Blue Jays, as both Jordan Romano and John Axford are back in the mix. Of course, these are mutually exclusive things and I’m just lumping them into one post because I want to streamline all of our Canadian #content.

Anyways, first there’s John Axford who was let go from his minor league deal yesterday. Axford, according to Jon Heyman, has signed a new minors deal with the Jays and will begin rehabbing on his injured elbow.

Shi Davidi predicted this yesterday because it didn’t really make all too much sense that the Jays were going to walk away from an excellent veteran presence like Axford simply because of a minor injury. Josh Howsam offered a nice explanation on Twitter as to why the Jays would make this move, as the team would have to pay Axford an extra $100k bonus to keep him in the minors after spring training. Now that he’s on a new minor league deal, the Jays won’t have to give him that extra bonus.

Then there’s Jordan Romano, who didn’t make the Texas Rangers’ 25-man roster and will now be returned to the Blue Jays. The Rangers selected Romano in the Rule 5 draft and he had a decent spring, allowing four runs in nine-and-a-third innings, but the Rangers figured he wasn’t good enough to crack the 25-man roster.

Having Romano back will give the Jays even more pitching depth on their Triple-A squad. The Bisons will have a lot of pitchers worth watching, like Trent Thornton, Sean Reid-Foley, Thomas Pannone, David Paulino, Jacob Waguespack, and Romano, though some of those aforementioned names could start the season with the Jays due to injuries on the big league club.