Blue Jays’ 6-Year Veteran Returns To MLB With AL Contender
Veteran left-handed reliever Ryan Borucki, a familiar face to Toronto Blue Jays fans, has signed a minor league deal with the Cleveland Guardians. Borucki, released by the San Francisco Giants in early June after a 4.94 ERA this season, brings a proven track record from his nine major league seasons, including a strong 2.45 ERA with the Pirates in 2023. The Guardians, a team chasing a postseason berth, are adding him for experienced bullpen depth. If he earns a promotion, the 32-year-old is expected to provide lower-leverage relief, offering another opportunity to extend his extensive big-league career. This signing underscores how veteran arms can quickly reappear for contending clubs.
Major league opportunities can disappear quickly for veteran relievers, but they can also reappear just as fast for pitchers with proven track records. As contenders prepare for the stretch run, experienced bullpen arms often become attractive depth additions, even after being designated for assignment elsewhere.
That reality has created another opportunity for a familiar face to Toronto Blue Jays fans. After spending nearly a decade in the major leagues and beginning the 2026 season with the San Francisco Giants, left-hander Ryan Borucki has landed with another American League club chasing a postseason berth.
“The (Cleveland) Guardians signed lefty reliever Ryan Borucki to a minor league deal,” MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins reported.
Borucki was released by the Giants in early June and spent weeks searching for an opportunity before the Guardians’ took the flyer on him. But Blue Jays fans will recall that he was drafted by Toronto in 2012 and spent parts of four seasons with the big-league club before being cut, then returning for a brief stint last year.
“The 32-year-old Borucki is a veteran of parts of nine major league seasons who reached seven years of MLB service earlier this season with San Francisco,” Steve Adams wrote for MLB Trade Rumors. “He logged a 4.94 ERA in 23 2/3 innings with the Giants before being designated for assignment. Borucki has now pitched in each of the past nine big league campaigns. His best year came with the 2023 (Pittsburgh) Pirates (2.45 ERA in 40 1/3 innings), and he sports a lifetime 4.34 ERA, 19.3% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate in 280 major league frames.”
While Borucki has carved out a long-term MLB career for himself, the Guardians might be his last stop in affiliated baseball, depending on how the rest of this season plays out.
“They’re all-in,” NBC Sports’ Rivers McCown wrote of the team. “He’ll be a lower-leverage reliever if he makes it up to the Guardians bullpen at some point.”
After two stops with the Blue Jays, as well as time with the Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, Pirates and Giants.
Now, the veteran left-hander will attempt another return to the majors with Cleveland. If he earns a promotion, he'll provide experienced bullpen depth for a club hoping to strengthen its relief corps during the final weeks of the regular season. For Borucki, it's another opportunity to extend a career that has now spanned parts of nine major league seasons.