{"id":543054,"date":"2026-01-28T22:34:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T22:34:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/543054\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T22:34:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T22:34:30","slug":"angels-sign-nick-sandlin-former-blue-jays-reliever-to-minor-league-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/543054\/","title":{"rendered":"Angels Sign Nick Sandlin, Former Blue Jays Reliever, to Minor League Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> were viewed as one of the early winners of this year\u2019s offseason after securing multiple pieces in MLB<\/a> free agency. But as the winter has unfolded, the picture has become less favorable.<\/p>\n

Several high-profile targets slipped away, and the club ultimately lost a major homegrown player: All-Star infielder Bo Bichette<\/a>, who signed a three-year, $126 million deal with the New York Mets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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With the 40-man roster close to finalized, Toronto still has a group capable of making another push toward the World Series.<\/p>\n

Even so, it is difficult to envision the lineup maintaining the same level of production without Bichette\u2019s bat anchoring the order. His departure leaves a significant gap that the front office has yet to fully replace.<\/p>\n

\"Toronto<\/p>\n

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider (14) \u00a9 Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

(\u00a9 Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Bichette may not be the only familiar face from the 2025 roster who will not be returning. Earlier this week, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reported that right-handed reliever Nick Sandlin has joined the Los Angeles Angels<\/a> on a minor-league contract that includes an invitation to spring training.<\/p>\n

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Sandlin has spent five seasons in MLB, most of it with the Cleveland Guardians<\/a> before he was moved to Toronto in the Andres Gimenez trade last offseason.<\/p>\n

His time with the Blue Jays never fully materialized, as injuries derailed his year. A lat issue and later elbow inflammation limited him to just 16 1\/3 innings, keeping him on the injured list for most of the season.<\/p>\n

Once the year ended, Toronto removed him from the 40-man roster and chose not to tender him a contract rather than take on his projected $2 million arbitration salary.<\/p>\n

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The 29-year-old did post a 2.20 ERA along with 16 strikeouts, giving the Angels a low-risk, high-upside arm if he remains healthy in 2026.<\/p>\n

The departure also highlights how thin Toronto\u2019s pitching depth has become compared to the start of the offseason.<\/p>\n

The front office has added pieces, but losing Sandlin without seeing a full season of what he could provide underscores the challenge of rebuilding a bullpen that struggled with injuries and inconsistency in 2025.<\/p>\n

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Even with the setbacks, the Blue Jays still have enough talent and organizational depth to stay competitive, and a strong spring could help clarify the pieces capable of stepping up in 2026.<\/p>\n

Related: Blue Jays Sign Former Braves Player in MLB Free Agency<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Jan 27, 2026, where it first appeared in the MLB<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Blue Jays were viewed as one of the early winners of this year\u2019s offseason after securing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2390],"tags":[2043,291,5,88,51,5050,1165,446,3223,774,56,3224,3222,4,61,12047,70],"class_list":["post-543054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-angels","tag-andres-gimenez","tag-angels","tag-baseball","tag-bo-bichette","tag-cleveland-guardians","tag-jeff-fletcher","tag-la","tag-la-angels","tag-laangels","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesangels","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-mets","tag-nick-sandlin","tag-toronto-blue-jays"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115975112606186215","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}