It is not yet known whether this is related to an upcoming roster move. A 40-man roster spot wasn’t immediately needed for the Jays, as the club only has 38 players out of its current 40-man roster. Cody Ponce‘s three-year contract has yet to be officially announced, but once that deal is completed, the Jays will now retain two more vacancies on their 40-man roster, with Rodriguez now apparently on his way out.
On paper, it’s a somewhat surprising move, considering Rodriguez had a 3.08 ERA over 73 innings out of Toronto’s bullpen in 2025, and he received some heavy-handed work in a setup role in the early part of the year. He was also named to the Blue Jays rosters for both the ALDS and ALCS, and he was charged with three earned runs over 2 2/3 innings of work before being removed from the World Series roster.
The 3.08 ERA was seemingly a positive step up from the 4.47 ERA that Rodriguez posted in 86 2/3 innings as a starting pitcher in 2024 (his first season in the Majors), although a look under the hood reveals some fairly similar parameters. Rodriguez’s 22.1% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate in 2025 were both a step back from his 2024 stats. After posting a 4.46 SIERA that nearly matched his ERA, there was a much bigger difference between the righty’s 3.08 ERA and 4.27 SIERA in 2025, as Rodriguez was assisted by a .228 BABIP and an 81.2%.
Two seasons of mediocre strikeout and big walk totals left the Blue Jays ready to acquire the righthander less than two years after Rodriguez signed a five-year, $32 million free agent contract. $17 million remains on that contract, in the form of a $5 million salary in 2026, $6 million in 2027, and then a $6 million player option for 2028 or (if Rodriguez opts out), a $10 million club option that the Jays can exercise to retain him for the 2028 campaign.
Unsurprisingly, no team was willing to pick up this remaining contract on waivers, which is why Rodriguez has now been straight off the 40-man roster. He’s still in the Toronto organization, as Rodriguez doesn’t have the necessary service time or direct history on his resume that he should give himself the option of turning down the outright assignment in favor of free agency. This means the Blue Jays can still select Rodriguez’s contract back to the 40-man at any time, either this offseason or during the 2026 season.
However, the outright placement clearly puts Rodriguez in line as something of a secondary option within Toronto’s bullpen plans, and likely makes him a trade candidate for the rest of the winter. While no team would eat that $17 million deal, the Jays could explore (or continue to explore, as they’ve certainly looked at trade opportunities) to move Rodriguez as part of a junk contract swap, or the Jays could eat a significant chunk of the $17 million to make a trade happen.
It’s already been a busy offseason for the Blue Jays, who signed Ponce Dylan stops on multi-year contracts, and Shane Bieber also remains in the rotation after refusing to opt out of the final year of his contract. This puts the Jays in line for a payroll of approximately $267.9 million and a luxury tax number of $282.5 million (projections courtesy of Grid source), and this is before Toronto addresses its lineup or bullpen needs heading into the 2026 campaign.
The four largest payrolls in Blue Jays history have occurred in each of the last four seasons as owners have been willing to pay increasingly higher bills in both salary and taxes. The Blue Jays paid the luxury tax in both 2023 and 2025, and their current projection for 2026 puts them just under the $284 million tax threshold and the third level of fines.
Considering the Jays have already signed Cease and have been linked to many other big names this offseason (e.g Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellingerand old friend Bo Bichette), it is clear that more releases will follow. That said, only the front office knows exactly what the budget really is, and trimming an excess salary like Rodriguez could free up some additional dollars to spend on higher-cap talent. The fact that Toronto has two open 40-man roster spots heading into the Winter Meetings is perhaps an indication that the Jays could anticipate a new addition sooner or later.
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