Guardians sign former Blue Jays relief pitcher.
The Cleveland Guardians have signed former Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Luis Frias to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training.
Frias, 27 in May, signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks out of the Dominican Republic as an amateur and made his pro debut back in 2016.
After slowly making his way through the lower levels of the minors in his early years with the club, Frias quickly rose from High-A all the way to Triple-A during the 2021 season.
While he struggled to a 4.93 ERA in 23 starts across three levels of the minors that year, that didn't stop Arizona from giving Frias his first big league opportunity down the stretch.
He pitched fairly well in that brief cup of coffee, with a 2.70 ERA and three strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings of work, though his five walks represented a clear red flag regarding how his command would.
Things even looked dire at the Triple-A level during his time in Arizona, as he posted a lackluster 4.88 ERA for the club's affiliate in Reno.
Fortunately for Frias, however, he dominated at Triple-A late in the year after being plucked off waivers from the Snakes.
The Blue Jays claimed Fr�as off waivers in August and only pitched in four games with Toronto in 2024.
It was rough going for the 26-year-old, as he gave up eight earned runs in 3.1 innings pitched, giving him a 21.60 ERA and a 6.77 FIP.
Fr�as was significantly better in his short stint with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, posting a 0.96 ERA and a 2.60 FIP in 9.1 innings pitched, with a 27.9 K% and an 11.6 BB%.
While his 27.9% strikeout rate for the Buffalo Bisons was good, it wasn't good enough to convince the Jays to keep him on their 40-man roster this winter, it was evidently enough to earn Frias a look from the Guardians this winter.
Fr�as was one of many waiver claims by the Blue Jays after they decided to sell.
The team still has a handful of those waiver claims remaining on the 40-man roster and they are: Brett de Geus, Easton Lucas, Michael Peterson, and Nick Robertson.
Since the off-season started, the Jays have added Nick Sandlin, Josh Walker, Yimi Garc�a, and Angel Bastardo.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 2 | 144 ANSWERS Guardians sign former Blue Jays relief pitcher. Besides the Yimi Garcia signing, have the Blue Jays done enough to fortify their bullpen? | ||
