Blue Jays' let Ryan Yarbrough become a free agent

According to Sportsnets Shi Davidi, The Blue Jays are not adding Ryan Yarbrough, who was slated to pitch today, but packed up his locker and left the PDC. He'll become a free agent at 2 pm ET.

Jeff Blair of the Blair and Barker Show didn't seem to like the move by the Blue Jays ahead of Opening Day.

The lefty has carved out a nice career for himself despite a lack of velo or punchouts. He has 768 big league innings under his belt so far, having allowed 4.21 earned runs per nine.

His 18.7% strikeout rate is a few ticks below par but his 5.5% walk rate is quite good and his Statcast page shows that his average exit velocity and hard hit rate are regularly among the best in the league.

Some of that work has come as a starter, some as a bulk guy behind an opener and some as a more traditional long reliever.

The Jays got a close-up look at him late last year, acquiring him from the Dodgers in a deadline swap for Kevin Kiermaier. Yarbrough tossed 31 1/3 innings over 12 relief appearances with a 2.01 ERA.

In Grapefruit League action, he has tossed 6 2/3 innings, allowed three earned runs, with eight strikeouts and one walk.

The Jays project to have a rotation of José Berrios, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Bowden Francis. If healthy, Max Scherzer would have a spot as well.

More to come on the decision to release Yarbrough...