{"id":288226,"date":"2026-11-11T12:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T12:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/288226\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T12:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T12:58:10","slug":"former-toronto-blue-jays-35-year-old-abruptly-released-by-new-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/288226\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Toronto Blue Jays 35-Year-Old Abruptly Released By New Team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/toronto-blue-jays-v-tampa-bay-rays-st-petersburg-florida-september-e1794397923131.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Toronto Blue Jays v Tampa Bay Rays\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA &#8211; SEPTEMBER 22: Julian Merryweather #67 of the Toronto Blue Jays walks off the field following the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on September 22, 2021 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/toronto-blue-jays\/\" title=\"Toronto Blue Jays\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"590137\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> had a very frustrating 2026, finishing last in the AL East with a 79-83 record.<\/p>\n<p>The Blue Jays should now be a busy team this offseason as they aim to have better results in 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Now, with the offseason getting started, one of Toronto\u2019s former pitchers has become a free agent.<\/p>\n<p>Former Toronto Blue Jays 35-Year-Old Released By New Team<\/p>\n<p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6563171\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/los-angeles-angels-v-toronto-blue-jays-dunedin-florida-april-08.jpg\" alt=\"Los Angeles Angels v Toronto Blue Jays\" width=\"4455\" height=\"2970\"  \/>GettyDUNEDIN, FLORIDA \u2013 APRIL 08: Julian Merryweather #67 of the Toronto Blue Jays throws a pitch during the tenth inning against the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/los-angeles-angels\/\" title=\"Los Angeles Angels\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"590136\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles Angels<\/a> during the season home opener at TD Ballpark on April 08, 2021 in Dunedin, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/minnesota-twins\/\" title=\"Minnesota Twins\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"590140\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Minnesota Twins<\/a> have released former Toronto pitcher Julian Merryweather during the early stages of the offseason.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRHP Julian Merryweather elected free agency,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/player\/julian-merryweather-657240\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">MLB.com reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Merryweather becoming a free agent comes after he spent this season in the Minnesota Twins\u2019 minor league system.<\/p>\n<p>In 25 appearances split between the FCL Twins, Single-A Fort Myers, and Triple-A St. Paul, he had a 0-3 record, a 4.05 ERA, and 35 strikeouts.<\/p>\n<p>Merryweather did not make an <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/\" title=\"MLB\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"590141\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MLB<\/a> appearance for the Twins in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Looking Back at Merryweather\u2019s Time With the Blue Jays<\/p>\n<p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6563172\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/toronto-blue-jays-v-boston-red-sox-game-one-boston-massachusetts.jpg\" alt=\"Toronto Blue Jays v Boston Red Sox - Game One\" width=\"3793\" height=\"2529\"  \/>GettyBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS \u2013 SEPTEMBER 04: Julian Merryweather #67 of the Toronto Blue Jays pitches against the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/boston-red-sox\/\" title=\"Boston Red Sox\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"590138\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Boston Red Sox<\/a> during the fifth inning at Fenway Park on September 04, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n<p>Merryweather spent his first three major league seasons with the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n<p>In 47 games over three seasons with Toronto, he posted a 0-4 record, a 5.64 ERA, and 50 strikeouts.<\/p>\n<p>Merryweather\u2019s time with the Blue Jays ended in January 2023 when he was claimed off waivers by the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/chicago-cubs\/\" title=\"Chicago Cubs\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"590139\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chicago Cubs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In 152 career MLB games over six seasons, the former Toronto pitcher has a 6-7 record, a 4.72 ERA, and 177 strikeouts. It will now be interesting to see where he ends up signing next from here.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/michaelderosa98\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Michael DeRosa<\/a> Michael covers the NHL, NFL, and MLB for Heavy.com. He has professionally covered sports since 2017 and has written for other publications like The Hockey News, BetMGM, Athlon Sports, and The Hockey Writers. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/michaelderosa98\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Michael DeRosa<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA &#8211; SEPTEMBER 22: Julian Merryweather #67 of the Toronto Blue Jays walks off the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[48],"class_list":["post-288226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}