The Blue Jays and right-handed reliever Justin Topa are in agreement on a minor league contract, per the MiLB.com transaction log. He’ll head to Triple-A Buffalo for the time being. Topa was designated for assignment by the Twins and released late last month.
Topa, 35, has pitched in parts of seven big league seasons and has nearly six full years of big league service. He’s shown high-end potential at times but has generally struggled to stay on the field. He spent two-plus seasons with the Twins after coming over from the Mariners alongside prospect Gabriel González in the 2023 trade that sent Jorge Polanco to Seattle.
Topa has tossed 19 innings already this year, which somewhat incredibly marks only the third time in his injury-marred career that he’s reached 10 major league innings. He’s been quite effective in his two prior healthy seasons. In 2023, he gave the Mariners a career-high 69 innings with a 2.61 ERA, 21.9% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate and huge 56.7% grounder rate. He wasn’t as successful with Minnesota in 2025 but still turned in a solid 3.90 ERA, 18.3% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 47.7% grounder rate in 60 frames.
The 2026 season hasn’t been kind to Topa. He’s pitched 19 innings and served up 18 runs (17 earned) on 27 hits and 11 walks. He’s yielded four home runs, struck out only 13% of his opponents and walked 12% of them. Topa averaged 95.2 mph on his sinker as recently as 2023 but is sitting 93.2 mph so far in 2026. His ability to miss bats, generate grounders and limit walks have all trended starkly in the wrong direction.
Topa has twice undergone Tommy John surgery to this point in his career. He also missed nearly all of his first season with the Twins after suffering a torn patellar tendon in his left knee. Over the years, Topa has also missed time with ankle, triceps and oblique injuries. He’s a talented arm, but time will tell whether the Jays can either get his stuff back to previous levels or help him get by with lesser velocity across the board.
The Twins are paying Topa a $1.225MM salary this season. The Blue Jays would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time he spends on the big league roster. That amount would be subtracted from the remainder the Twins owe him, but Minnesota is paying the majority of his salary regardless.
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