The Toronto Blue Jays had a fierce competition for their limited bench spots this season, and a player the organization has long liked was forced out of the picture.

One spot had to go to backup catcher Tyler Heineman, and the Blue Jays weren’t going to leave Davis Schneider or Nathan Lukes out after their postseason contributions. Myles Straw had a strong year as well and can back up Daulton Varsho in center field, so that left a 24-year-old infielder who was out of options with the short end of the stick.

According to a Wednesday report from Shi Davidi of Sportsnet, the Blue Jays designated Leo Jiménez for assignment on Thursday. Jiménez heads to waivers, where all 29 other teams will have the opportunity to claim him, but the Blue Jays can also trade him if they sense a lot of interest among teams who might put in waiver claims.

Jiménez peaked at No. 5 on the Blue Jays’ top prospect list from MLB Pipeline in 2022, and he made 81 major league appearances over the past two years. He saw a lot of time at shortstop in 2024 while Bo Bichette was injured and he posted a respectable .686 OPS and 0.9 bWAR. Last year, with Bichette and Andrés Giménez on the infield, he only got into 18 games.

The Blue Jays lost Bichette in free agency, but signed Kazuma Okamoto to be the primary third baseman and reconfigured the rest of the defense to put Giménez at shortstop and Ernie Clement at second base. There was a case to make that Jiménez should have made the team as a capable backup shortstop, but Clement can probably handle that duty in a pinch.

Jiménez went just 6-for-26 without an extra-base hit in spring training and 0-for-5 for Team Panama in the World Baseball Classic earlier this month. He looked to be on the outside looking in from the start, and he didn’t do himself many favors with his performance.

Though there’s always hope that a player can pass through waivers until it doesn’t happen, the best the Blue Jays can likely hope for is a trade involving a low-level prospect.

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