The Toronto Blue Jays saw high-leverage reliever Seranthony Dominguez leave for the Chicago White Sox in free agency.
Toronto traded for Dominguez at the deadline to bolster the bullpen, and he had mixed results. After the Blue Jays lost in Game 7 of the World Series, Toronto quickly signed reliever Tyler Rogers to seemingly replace Dominguez.
The hard-throwing right-hander ended up inking a two-year, $20 million deal with the White Sox, leaving the Blue Jays as he said he wanted to win.
“It was really good for me,” Dominguez said about leaving the Blue Jays for the White Sox. “I’ve been there twice and unfortunately I lost twice … I feel like I’m still missing something because I didn’t win. I hope to erase that with the White Sox.”
Dominguez went 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 24 games with the Blue Jays last season. In the playoffs, he was 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA in 12 games, but Toronto opted to go in a different direction and signed Rogers.
Now, Dominguez is hoping to help the White Sox get back into the playoffs and into the World Series.
Dominguez Set to be White Sox’s Closer
After signing Dominguez to bolster their bullpen, the White Sox envision him as their closer.
“He’s gonna be finishing a lot of games for us. I think that’s clear,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “We definitely view him as somebody that is going to lock us down at the back end of games.”
Dominguez, meanwhile, said he’s excited to be the White Sox’s closer as he’s able to show off how effective he can be as a high-leverage reliever.
“If you ask any reliever if they want to close a game, of course they are going to say yes. In my case, it’s no different,” said Dominguez. “I want to be the closer forever. That’s why I’ve been working hard to get the opportunity.”
Dominguez is 40-for-60 on save opportunities in his MLB career.
Blue Jays Pursued Rogers Over Dominguez
Toronto was looking to add a high-leverage reliever this offseason, and the Blue Jays did just that.
The Blue Jays inked Rogers to a three-year, $37 million deal with a club option for 2029. Following the deal being made official, Rogers said he was excited to sign with the Blue Jays and be part of their winning culture.
“When the American League champs give you a phone call, you kind of perk up and get excited about that,” Rogers said. “This is a team that was really close to winning the World Series. That right there is a great start.
“The Blue Jays have a great reputation throughout the industry, even before they made this World Series run. They have a great reputation for how they treat their players, their facilities and even more so how they treat families.”
Rogers is expected to be a setup man in Toronto’s bullpen alongside Yimi Garcia and Louis Varland. Jeff Hoffman is projected to remain the Blue Jays’ closer.
Rogers went 4-6 with a 1.98 ERA in 81 games last season with the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.
Pitcher Gives Surprising Reason For Leaving Blue Jays For White Sox