Blue Jays Sign Jesse Hahn, Juan Yepez to Minor League Deals

[Leo Morgenstern]

Right-hander Jesse Hahn will be heading to Blue Jays camp in Dunedin. According to the team's transaction log, they signed the 36-year-old to a minor league contract with a spring training invite on Saturday. 

From 2014-17, Hahn made 50 starts (53 games) for the Padres and Athletics, pitching to a 4.19 ERA with 212 strikeouts and a 49.7% groundball rate in 286 innings. After tearing his UCL in 2018, he was one of the first pitchers to receive an internal brace procedure. Upon his return, he made a handful of relief appearances for the Royals from 2019-21, putting up a 4.62 ERA in 25.1 innings of work. 

A shoulder injury ruined most of Hahn's 2021, and he did not pitch professionally for the next two seasons. He made his return to affiliated ball with the Dodgers organization in 2024, and in 2025, he finally made it back to the majors, appearing in three games and tossing five innings for the Mariners. All told, across an unusual career, the righty has pitched 316.1 innings with a 4.24 ERA and 3.4 FanGraphs WAR. He's never been one to overpower hitters, and control has often been an issue, but he's always excelled at inducing groundballs.

Hahn will join names like Jorge Alcala and Connor Seabold as righty NRIs in camp with MLB experience. 

Earlier last week, the Blue Jays also reportedly signed first baseman Juan Yepez, according to Eric Treuden of Just Baseball. He, too, will presumably report to big league spring training, but the team has not yet announced his deal. 

Yepez, 27, hit 20 home runs with a .730 OPS and a 103 wRC+ in 166 games for the Cardinals and Nationals from 2022-24. The righty batter did not appear in the majors last year, as injury and ineffectiveness kept him at Triple-A. 

Initially a utility player with experience at first, third, and the corner outfield spots, Yepez has mostly played first base and DH the past two years. He'll have a better chance of making it back to the majors in 2026 if the Blue Jays think he can handle outfield work, so it will be worth watching where he plays in the coming weeks and months.

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