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Free agent reliever Chad Green signs two-year deal with Toronto Blue Jays

New York Yankees relief pitcher Chad Green (57) throws during the ninth inning MLB action against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto on Monday, May 2, 2022. Green has signed a two-year deal with the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays announced the US$8.5 million contract on Tuesday.
New York Yankees relief pitcher Chad Green (57) throws during the ninth inning MLB action against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto on Monday, May 2, 2022. Green has signed a two-year deal with the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays announced the US$8.5 million contract on Tuesday. Photo by Christopher Katsarov /THE CANADIAN PRESS

The Blue Jays latest off-season acquisition is one general manager Ross Atkins hopes will prove to be worth the wait later in another season of high expectations for the team.

The team on Tuesday agreed to a two-year $8.5 million U.S. deal with right-handed reliever Chad Green, a former stalwart of the New York Yankees bullpen.

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The unknown with the acquisition is that Green is recovering from Tommy John surgery he had this past June and likely won’t be available until the mid-point of the season.

Assuming a strong recovery, however, the 31-year-old veteran could be a welcome arm to the back end of the Toronto bullpen, especially if he pitches back to his 2021 form. With that in mind, the idea of having a fresh arm heading into what the Jays hope will be meaningful late-season baseball had to hold some appeal.

Prior to his injury last season, Green had recorded an ERA of 3.00 over 14 appearances and was a key late-inning arm in the Yankees bullpen. As a pending free agent, he had set himself up for a big payday, an opportunity that will be renewed with the days should he bounce back to form.

“I think everything happens for a reason,” Green told New York reporters not long after the injury. ‘I try not to look at it like ‘Oh, you’re losing one chance at (free agency.) I’m think this could be a chance to rehab for an extended period of time and come back being better than ever.”

Both the Jays and Green are banking on just that.

COACH ‘EM UP

With the opening days of spring training now less than two weeks away, the Jays announced a pair of additions to their 2023 coaching staff under manager John Schneider.

Jeff Ware has been added as assistant pitching coach, bullpen while David Howell will fulfill the role of assistant pitching coach, strategy. The pair in part fill the void of bullpen coach Matt Buschmann who recently announced he would not be returning to the team.

Ware has served in various pitching coach positions with the Jays since he joined the franchise in 2014. Ware, who was a Jays draft pick in 1991 and appeared in 19 career games for the big team, was the pitching coach at triple-A Buffalo the previous two seasons.

Howell was on the big-league staff last year as Major League pitching strategist. He began his time with the team in 2020 when he was development coach at the Jays alternate training site in Rochester.