After a heartbreaking loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series, the Toronto Blue Jays entered the offseason with both regret and hope. The 2025 season is still considered an important milestone – a big step forward for them to prove their true competitiveness in MLB. Therefore, rebuilding the roster will be a top priority in their effort to come back stronger in 2026.
While the offensive issue is still considered for upgrading – including the possibility of re-signing Bo Bichette – their biggest weakness continues to be the pitching staff.
In the 2025 season, the team marked a 94-68 record, topping the American League and winning the AL East title. However, their pitching ranked 19th in MLB with a 4.19 ERA – a number that shows the large gap between collective performance and pitching efficiency.
As Toronto begins to determine how to bolster its pitching depth for 2026, one name is surprisingly left out of the picture.
On Tuesday, the Blue Jays announced that left-handed pitcher Easton Lucas has been placed on unconditional release waivers.
On the X platform, the team briefly posted:
“LHP Easton Lucas has been placed on unconditional release waivers.”
The move paves the way for Lucas to continue his career in another league, as Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports he is expected to sign with a foreign team after officially leaving MLB.
Lucas’s career has been quite volatile over the past three seasons. Selected by the Miami Marlins in the 2019 MLB Draft, he made his major league debut with the Oakland Athletics in 2023. A year later, he played for the Detroit Tigers, before being picked up by Toronto after Detroit released him.
Lucas played in six games, making five starts for the Blue Jays in 2025, recording 23 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings but holding a 6.66 ERA – not enough to stay in a competitive lineup. He also wasn’t on Toronto’s postseason roster on their way to the World Series.
At 29, though, a move overseas could open a new chapter for the once-promising left-handed pitcher.
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