Blue Jays make adjustments to 40-man roster

Blue Jays reporter Hazel Mae was the first to report the news.

The latter move had long been expected as Manoah is in the middle of recovering from hybrid Tommy John surgery and is not expected back until at least July.

The decision to add Lovelady is a curious one, especially since it doesn't appear he will break camp with the team. Although he could conceivably start the season in the minor leagues, he is out of options, meaning the Blue Jays would first have to designate him for assignment.

Given that there is still a week left in Spring Training, the addition of Lovelady to the 40-man has led to speculation that the lefty had an opt-out clause and the Blue Jays
didn't want to risk losing him, at least not yet.

The addition could prove to be a low-risk but valuable one. The Blue Jays are tight left-handed depth. Brendon Little and Ryan Yarbrough appear destined to open the season on the major league roster. Besides starters Adam Macko and Easton Lucas,, the only other lefty on the 40-man is Josh Walker.

In spite of being out of options, Lovelady could still end up sticking with the Blue Jays. As he has more than three years of service but less than five, he can reject an outright assignment, but doing so would mean forfeiting any money that was left on his contract.

It's a curious and somewhat complicated situation to be in.

As for Manoah, his transfer to the 60-day IL is purely procedural and does not affect his recovery timeline.