Blue Jays acquire Straw, international bonus money from Guardians
The Toronto Blue Jays acquired outfielder Myles Straw, cash, and international bonus pool money for the 2025 signing period from the Cleveland Guardians for a player to be named later, the teams announced Friday.
Cleveland is sending $3.75 million to Toronto to help cover some of the remaining money on Straw's contract, sources told Ben Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.
Sources tell me and @ShiDavidi the Blue Jays are getting $2 million in international cap space in their trade with CLE.
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) January 17, 2025
Again, this does not mean Roki Sasaki has made a decision, but Jays clearly prepping in case he chooses them.
The acquisition of the bonus pool money comes with Toronto reportedly among the finalists to land prized Japanese amateur free agent Roki Sasaki. He's available to sign a minor-league deal this winter, with his signing bonus coming from a club's international bonus pool space.
The Blue Jays entered the offseason with $6,261,600 in bonus pool space, the same amount as one of the other reported finalists, the San Diego Padres. The other team in the running for Sasaki, the Los Angeles Dodgers, have $5,146,200 available for international free agents.
Straw appeared in only seven big-league games last season, spending much of the 2024 campaign at Triple-A Columbus where he slashed .240/.321/.330 with 47 RBIs and 30 steals.
The 30-year-old once served as the Guardians' starting center fielder thanks to his elite defense - Straw won a Gold Glove in 2022 - but he hasn't hit much at the major-league level.
Straw is signed through 2026 with a $6-million salary in 2025 and $7 million in '26. He also has club options of $8 million and $8.5 million attached to his contract for the '27 and '28 seasons, respectively.