TORONTO -- The Blue Jays took care of some minor housekeeping prior to the start of Game 7 of the World Series on Wednesday night by outrighting pitchers Bo Schultz and Cesar Valdez and outfielder Darrell Ceciliani from their 40-man roster.
All three players finished the year on the disabled list after getting hurt at various points of the season, and now become free agents. Schultz missed the entire year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in Spring Training, while Valdez has a right shoulder issue and Ceciliani dealt with a separated shoulder.
Toronto appears to be in line to start the offseason with the maximum number of players on its 40-man roster. Jose Bautista, Miguel Montero, Darwin Barney and Michael Saunders will be removed from the roster when they become free agents, but Troy Tulowitzki, Devon Travis, Aaron Sanchez and Dalton Pompey will need to be activated from the 60-day DL.
In the coming weeks, the Blue Jays likely will increase their number of roster spots by outrighting additional players off the roster. Toronto is expected to target at least one impact bat and one impact arm via free agency or trades in the coming weeks.
The 32-year-old Schultz spent parts of three years in the Blue Jays organization with his best season coming in 2015, when he posted a 3.56 ERA over 43 innings as a setup man. Valdez pitched 9 1/3 innings for the A's to start the season, then was claimed off waivers and pitched 21 1/3 innings for Toronto. Ceciliani finished with five at-bats for the Blue Jays in 2017.