Regardless if the Blue Jays decide to buy or sell at this year’s trade deadline, they still have a bullpen that needs some help.

They put that into action earlier today, acquiring right-handed reliever Yerry Rodríguez from the Texas Rangers in exchange for minor league right-hander Josh Mollerus. Rodriguez was DFA’d last Wednesday after appearing in 12 games for the Rangers this season, pitching to a 6.88 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, a 6.4 K/9, and a 5.8 BB/9. He has been assigned to triple-A Buffalo.

Rodríguez was signed by the Rangers to a minor league deal in September of 2015 out of Santiago, Dominican Republic. He flourished early on in his minor league career, posting dominant numbers between single-A and double-A. Rodríguez’s performance earned him a ranking within Texas’ Top 30 prospects per MLB Pipeline, reaching as high as #18. Once he reached triple-A, his hits and walks started to climb, and with that, so did his ERA.

He made his major league debut in 2022, pitching only one inning in relief in the season finale against the Yankees. Between ’22 and ’24, Rodríguez has only appeared in a total of 26 games and has accumulated 31.2 innings. Although a small sample size, he’s allowed 25 earned runs and 17 walks, leading to a career 7.11 ERA and a 4.8 BB/9. His strikeout numbers have also been on a decline this year, so coupling that with a low chase rate and elevated walk numbers hasn’t been conducive to success on the mound.

One thing that was always a constant with Rodríguez in the minors was his strikeout capability; he posted a double-digit K/9 each season since 2018 within the Rangers system. Rodríguez features a four-seam fastball (96.3 mph average in ’24), a slider (83.7), and a changeup (86.5). His slider has been a much-improved pitch between last year and this year. Despite generating a 38.2% whiff rate on that breaking pitch last season, opponents were slashing .444/.321/.833 against it with a home run. This year, that slash line has gone down significantly to .250/.290/.583.

As for who Toronto sent back to Texas, Mollerus was a 10th-round pick out of the University of Oregon during the 2023 MLB Draft. After appearing in 11 games with Dunedin in the Florida State League last year, he has posted a 3.90 ERA and 1.23 WHIP through 23 games with Vancouver this season with two holds and five saves.

The Blue Jays are trying to build up some bullpen depth as that area has become severely depleted throughout the 2024 season. Jordan Romano recently suffered a setback in his recovery from elbow inflammation, Erik Swanson continues to struggle in Triple-A, Yimi García has missed some time with an elbow injury, and Tim Mayza was DFA’d yesterday. The Jays also acquired José Cuas from the Chicago Cubs earlier this week. Cuas made his Blue Jays debut yesterday against the Yankees, allowing two runs in an inning of work.