One of the under-the-radar objectives for the Toronto Blue Jays has seemingly been to acquire catching depth.
The Blue Jays still expect their pennant-winning catching tandem, starter Alejandro Kirk and backup Tyler Heineman, to remain in place to start the season. But on top of the possibility of injury, Toronto also seems to be preparing for the possibility of regression from Heineman, who put up 1.9 bWAR last season to bring his career total to 2.6 at age 34.
Toronto has a catching prospect it likes in 25-year-old Brandon Valenzuela, and a plethora of non-roster invites, most of whom signed as minor-league free agents this year, joining them to try their hand at catcher during spring training. Just before spring training kicked off, they also added one final backstop into the mix.
According to the official transactions log, the Blue Jays signed 29-year-old free agent William Simoneit to a minor-league contract. The deal was official as of Friday, but it did not appear on the log until sometime on Tuesday.
Simoneit has four years of experience in the affiliated minors, splitting time between the Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs organizations. In 302 games, he owns a .246/.343/.397 slash line, 27 home runs, and 153 RBIs. But at the end of spring training last year, the Cubs released him and he wound up playing the rest of the season in the independent Atlantic League.
Though Simoneit has had some minor-league seasons where he’s seen significant time at first base, he’s been a primary catcher all along, and has barely played any first since 2023.
While Simoneit likely ranks fourth or fifth on the depth chart of catching newcomers to begin the spring, a few big offensive performances could always change the calculus. Still, he has to be considered a long shot to make his major league debut for Toronto this year.
More MLB: Braves Dealt Brutal Spencer Schwellenbach News on Day 1 of Spring