It’s no secret that the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen struggled in a big way in 2024. Their team ERA sat at 4.82 on the season, ranking above only the Colorado Rockies, who play half their games at hitter-friendly Coors Field. The Jays will undoubtedly be looking far and wide for reinforcements heading into 2025, with free agency being no exception. It’s typically not a great business decision to shell out big money for relief pitching given the volatility of bullpen arms, but former Texas Rangers reliever José Leclerc represents a reasonably affordable option.

Let’s take a look at what he offers the Blue Jays going forward.

After posting sub-3.00 ERA’s in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Leclerc saw an increase to the 4.32 mark in 2024. Numbers tend to fluctuate for relief pitchers, and Leclerc was the on the receiving end of some bad luck last season. After looking under the hood, the 30-year-old may have pitched better than the previous two campaigns.

Leclerc’s 12.02 K/9 helped fuel a fielding independent pitching (FIP) mark of 3.48, indicating that he suffered from a higher BABIP than in years past. The Dominican right-hander has quietly been one of the most productive relievers in baseball over his eight-year career, primarily relying on his mid-90s fastball and wipeout slider. Excluding his lost 2020 (pandemic) and 2021 (Tommy John surgery) seasons, he has posted five straight seasons of sub-3.75 FIP. The strikeout stuff has always been elite, and he avoids enough hard contact to make up for his sometimes shaky control. According to Baseball Savant, he was in the 96th percentile in both whiff rate and hard-hit percentage in 2024, while his walk rate was in the 14th percentile as he struggled at times with the command (4.32 BB/9).

There is a good chance that Leclerc would be more of a household name if he had spent more time closing out games for the Rangers. After saving four games across 13 total appearances during the Rangers’ run to the 2023 World Series title, the team gave him every opportunity to be the main guy in 2024. However, the 30-year-old ended up blowing three saves early in the season, quickly losing the role to Kirby Yates. All told, he has just 41 career saves but has nonetheless been a reliable late-innings guy for the duration of his career. He becomes a free agent after completing his modest 6-year, $26.25 million deal he signed in 2019.

Between free agency, trades, and internal options, there’s a good chance that the Blue Jays bullpen will be completely overhauled from last season.

Any productive reliever should be on the team’s radar, and Leclerc is no exception. The lack of closing success and wildness will likely keep his contract at a respectable mark, making him a worthwhile addition. Depending on how the rest of the offseason shakes out, Toronto may be a particularly appealing destination if he is looking for an opportunity to be a team’s closer, especially if the club designates Jordan Romano for assignment. He would have to fend off Chad Green for the pivotal ninth inning but either way, collecting relievers who have been as consistently effective as Leclerc is a great idea for a team needing relievers with a solid track record.

The closest player comparison to a contract that Leclerc may fetch is Joe Jiménez, who signed for three years and $26 million last year with the Atlanta Braves. Jimenez was 28 when he signed his deal, but like the former Ranger, he thrived in a late-inning, non-closing role for several seasons. They posted similar numbers in each of their final seasons before hitting free agency. Somewhere between $6.5 and $8 million AAV seems like a safe bet for Leclerc.