The Blue Jays and right-hander Paolo Espino are in agreement on a contract, according to a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post. There are no details on the specifics of the deal, though it’s presumably a minor league pact with an invite to Major League spring training.

Espino, 37 next month, started his professional career all the way back in 2006 when he was drafted by Cleveland in the 10th round of that year’s draft. He first broke into the big leagues more than a decade later with a 6.00 ERA in 24 innings of work split between the Brewers and Rangers during the 2017 season. Espino was then relegated to the minors for the next two seasons before eventually resurfacing with the Nationals during the 2020 season. Though he pitched just six innings for the club during the shortened season, the performance went reasonably well as he posted a 4.50 ERA and 4.02 FIP with seven

After that 2020 coffee date with the Nationals, Espino spent four years in Washington, D.C., where he was a key swingman for the rebuilding club. Between 2021 and 2022, Espino played in 77 games for the Nationals, making 38 starts and pitching 223 innings. Even though his numbers weren’t great, they were about what one would anticipate from a team’s #5 or #6 starter: a 4.56 ERA (88 ERA+) and a 4.70 FIP despite a pitiful 19.5% strikeout rate that was mostly due to a 5.2% walk rate.

Espino’s circumstances deteriorated in 2023. This past season, the veteran righty only threw four innings for the major league team, but he was brilliant.

Since then, Espino has made nine starts in the Dominican Winter League, striking out 25.8% of batters faced while pitching to a solid 2.40 ERA in 48 2/3 innings of work. The Blue Jays were obviously impressed by Espino’s strong performance and decided to give him a try as a depth option going into the 2024 campaign. While the team gets ready for the arrival of top prospect Ricky Tiedemann, the lineup looks to be set with   Kikuchi,, Jose Berrios, Yusei Kikuchi, Chris Bassitt, and Alek Manoah penciled in. However, Espino could be used as a depth option with players like Bowden Francis and Wes Parsons or even challenge Mitch White to be the team’s long relief option.