The Blue Jays officially outrighted right-hander Lazaro Estrada off the 40-man roster after he went unclaimed on waivers, according to MLB Trade Rumors. It's the formal end of a stretch where the 27-year-old was Toronto's emergency-arm-of-choice all summer, and now he's ticketed for Triple-A Buffalo with no guarantee of getting a 40-man spot back anytime soon.
This didn't come out of nowhere. Estrada was designated for assignment last Saturday to free up a roster spot for outfielder Daz Cameron ahead of a series against the Yankees, a routine numbers move that turned into a full outright once nobody claimed him. His 2026 big-league line reads 1-1 with a 5.54 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP across 13 innings, with 10 walks against just 9 strikeouts — shaky peripherals even if opponents only hit.178 off him.
The bigger picture is that Estrada has been Toronto's break-glass reliever since July, getting recalled from Buffalo 4 separate times to soak up innings during an overworked bullpen stretch. He even picked up a win, a save and a loss in the same Philadelphia series, the kind of all-purpose usage that keeps a fringe arm on the shuttle but never quite locks down a permanent job. For his career, that adds up to a 1-1 record and a 6.64 ERA over 20.1 MLB innings — numbers that made him an easy DFA once Toronto needed the space.
The irony is that Estrada has actually pitched well when he's not in the majors. With Buffalo this year he's been excellent — a 3-0 record, 2.52 ERA and a strikeout an inning across 10 outings — the profile of a guy who dominates Triple-A hitters but hasn't sorted out the jump yet. Outrighting him doesn't end his time in the organization; he's spent his entire pro career in the Blue Jays system and can still be added back to the 40-man later, but for now he's off it entirely and would need to clear waivers again to return.
For a Toronto club trying to lock down bullpen depth down the stretch, this is a quiet but telling move. It signals the front office values roster flexibility over hanging onto a struggling reliever's option, and it puts Estrada in organizational limbo — a phone call away if the Jays need an arm, but no longer protected on the 40-man heading into the stretch run.