The Toronto Blue Jays are concluding their series with the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday afternoon.
The Jays are 46-56 this season, and the reigning AL Pennant winners now sit in dead last in the AL East.
However, on Thursday, during the series with Tampa Bay, the Blue Jays claimed a player off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles.
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Blue Jays Acquire Rudy Martin Jr. from Orioles
GettyTORONTO, CANADA – JANUARY 6: Kazuma Okamoto (not pictured) #7 of the Toronto Blue Jays is introduced during a press conference alongside Ross Atkins, General Manager of the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on January 6, 2026 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images)
The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired Rudy Martin Jr.’s contract from the Baltimore Orioles, per Ari Alexander.
MLBTR.com’s Darragh McDonald was quick to the news when it broke, and wrote (about Rudy Martin’s 2026 campaign thus far):
“Martin, 30, still has not made his major league debut. He only got a 40-man roster spot a few days ago. He started this year with the Royals on a minor league deal. He triggered an upward mobility clause in that deal and got traded to the Orioles last week. The O’s sent him to Triple-A Norfolk for a few days and then designated him for assignment. It seems they were hoping to get him through waivers to be kept as non-roster depth but the Jays have swooped in to prevent that.”
His BaseballReference.com page is littered with several different affiliated teams, but as McDonald notes, he’s yet to crack an at-bat with an MLB team.
NBCSports.com’s River McCown notes that Martin will begin his Blue Jays tenure with the AAA Buffalo:
“Martin Jr. is a big pick up for the Bisons; the 30-year-old has hit .385/.489/.590 for Triple-A Omaha and .261/.396/.406 for Double-A Northwest Arkansas this year. The Orioles had acquired from the Royals for cash on July 18, but never used him in a game before having to designate him for assignment.”
In 2026, he’s batting .284 (with the Kansas City Royals‘ AA and AAA teams) with eight home runs, eight doubles, and 33 stolen bases, so it’s possible that the Blue Jays may plan to use him as a pinch-runner in the future.
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Looking at the Blue Jays Right Now
The 2026 season has not gone how the Blue Jays have wanted so far this season.
They (obviously) carried a lot of high aspirations heading into the season, especially after inking the likes of Kazuma Okamoto, Dylan Cease, and Tyler Rogers to long-term extensions.
Paired with an already strong rotation, the injury bug hit the Jays pretty hard in the early going of the season.
However, every team deals with injuries. Perhaps the struggles can be traced to Vladimir Guerrero’s lethargic year at the plate, paired with a bunch of close-game losses.
Now, the Blue Jays may be headed towards being slight sellers at MLB’s trade deadline, as Toronto has not opened up the back half of its schedule strongly and sits 6.5 games back of an AL Wild Card spot with several teams ahead of them in the standings.
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