The Tigers have traded right-hander Chase Lee to the Blue Jays in change for minor league lefty Johan Simon, in accordance with bulletins from each golf equipment. This transfer is prone to open a 40-man spot for the Tigers to make their signing of Kyle Finnegan official. The Jays had a 40-man emptiness however Lee takes up the ultimate spot. Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic first reported that Lee was headed to the Jays whereas Mitch Bannon of The Athletic first talked about Simon because the return.
Lee, 27, doesn’t throw particularly laborious however is ready to deceive batters together with his sidearm supply. Initially a draft decide of the Rangers, he was traded to the Tigers as a part of the 2024 deadline deal which despatched Andrew Chafin the opposite manner.
In 2024 2/3 minor league innings, Lee has allowed 4.13 earned runs pere 9, with a reasonably common 8% stroll fee however a robust 30.9% strikeout fee. The Tigers referred to as him as much as make his main league debut in 2025. He gave them 37 1/3 innings with a 4.10 ERA. His four-seam fastball solely averaged 89.2 miles per hour whereas he additionally threw a sinker, slider and changeup. He struck out 24.3% of opponents whereas limiting walks to a 6.1% clip.
For the Jays, Lee provides some further bullpen depth. He nonetheless has choices and may due to this fact be despatched to Triple-A Buffalo and again all year long. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet not too long ago wrote a bit about how the Jays seem like prioritizing completely different arm angles, so it’s attainable they’re significantly interested in Lee’s sidearming talents. He has lower than a yr of service time and is due to this fact years away from qualifying for arbitration and even farther from free company. If he’s capable of carve out a significant function within the huge leagues, he might be a long-term piece for the Jays.
To get Lee, the Jays are giving up Simon, a global signing out of the Dominican Republic. In 2025, he started at Single-A after which climbed to Excessive-A and Double-A. Throughout these three ranges, he tossed 71 reduction innings with a 3.42 ERA, 25.1% strikeout fee, 9.2% stroll fee and an enormous 64% floor ball fee.
For the Tigers, they’d a 40-man roster crunch and wanted to lose somebody. With this deal, they’ve misplaced a little bit of speedy depth however changed Lee with a non-roster arm who is simply barely farther away from the majors.
Picture courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Pictures
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