Blue Jays trade OF Fisher to Brewers

TORONTO -- The Blue Jays have traded outfielder Derek Fisher to the Brewers in exchange for cash considerations and a player to be named, the club announced Monday.

Fisher was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays last week after they signed reliever David Phelps to a one-year deal.

Toronto acquired Fisher at the 2019 Trade Deadline in exchange for Aaron Sanchez, Joe Biagini and prospect Cal Stevenson. Fisher was just 25 at the time and brought plenty of intrigue to Toronto with his raw tools and physical abilities, but the outfielder struggled in his '19 debut and had his '20 season cut short by injury.

Now 27, Fisher hit .177 with a .690 OPS over 56 games with the Blue Jays. In prior years, Fisher likely would have reached Spring Training and given another shot to crack the roster, especially after putting up some better numbers over a very limited sample size of 16 games last summer, but the Blue Jays’ depth has created a squeeze at the bottom of the roster.

After signing George Springer to a six-year contract for a club-record $150 million this offseason, the Blue Jays now have four “starting” outfielders on their roster with Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernández and Randal Grichuk. How those reps will be divided, particularly when it comes to Grichuk, will be clearer once Spring Training gets underway, but the Blue Jays also have some depth beyond that group.

Jonathan Davis is still on the 40-man roster and remains one of the club’s best defenders in the outfield, which makes him a sensible option as the fifth outfielder or first man up in the case of an injury. Joshua Palacios is the sixth outfielder on the 40-man roster, while outfielders Forrest Wall, Chavez Young and Ryan Noda have been invited to Spring Training as non-roster invitees.

Spring Training opens later this week in Dunedin, Fla., with Blue Jays pitchers and catchers scheduled to report on Feb. 18 and the first full squad workout scheduled for Feb. 22.