TORONTO, CA: The Blue Jays declared that they have recalled infielder Spencer Horwitz and that they have designated outfielder/infielder Cavan Biggio for assignment in tandem.Their 40-man roster is reduced to 39 players. Horwitz will be joining the team, according to what Sportsnet's Shi Davidi reported earlier on X.
Biggio, 29, has spent some time playing many positions for the Jays. When he initially joined the major leagues, he displayed a good eye at the plate, but it appears that pitchers learned that if they threw him more strikes, he wouldn't be able to do much damage. In his debut season of 2019, he drew walks in 16.5% of his plate appearances; however, the percentage has decreased annually. In 2020, it was 15.5%; the following years, it dropped to 12.6%, 12.5%, and 11.8%.
Biggio has only been walking at a 10.7% clip now in 2024. That is a significant decrease from where he started, but it is still over the league average, which is 8.3% for the season thus far. Over the years, strikeouts have also grown to be an increasing issue for him. He was punched out at a rate of about 23% in 2021, which was about league average. However, in the following seasons, that rate increased to the mid 20s, and it is at 32.1% this year.
Throughout the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Biggio hit .240/.368/.430 because to his on-base prowess. In the first of those seasons, he blasted 16 home runs, but many now view that as a "juiced ball" season where home runs were at previously unheard-of heights. Although he has since hit just .219/.327/.351 for a 94 wRC+, which includes a line of .200/.323/.291 and 88 wRC+ here in 2024, his production still converted to a wRC+ of 118.
Biggio is no longer on the 40-man roster as a result of that, and the Jays have one week to trade him or place him on waivers. Upon reaching the five-year service time milestone, he is eligible to choose free agency and decline an assignment outright, all while keeping his whole wage. This year, he is earning $4.21 million, of which around $2.78 million is still owed. In the event that someone were to claim him, they would be required to pay that compensation but would also be able to keep Biggio through arbitration the following season.
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