Jake Bloss Granted Fourth Option Year

Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reported today that right-hander Jake Bloss has qualified for a fourth option year. This means the Blue Jays will not risk losing the 25-year-old if they do not have a spot for him on their Opening Day roster next March. 

Nearly every MLB player starts his big league career with three option years. He uses one up the first time he is sent down to the minors in a given season. He can then be optioned back and forth between the 26-man roster and the minors up to five times that year. Once a player has been optioned in three separate seasons, he is generally said to be "out of options," and his team can no longer send him down to the minors without first placing him on outright waivers. 

However, there is an exception to that rule. If a player has already exhausted his three option years before he has accrued five full seasons between the majors and minors, he is eligible for a fourth option year.

The Astros selected Bloss in the 2023 draft and promoted him to the majors less than a year later. The Blue Jays optioned the righty to Triple-A Buffalo after they acquired him at the 2024 trade deadline and subsequently optioned him back to Buffalo at the beginning of the 2025 and '26 campaigns. Thus, he burned through three option years in only four professional seasons. That's why he has been granted a fourth option year, which the Jays will almost certainly use in 2027.

Bloss has yet to pitch in the majors with Toronto. UCL surgery kept him out for most of 2025 and into 2026. A few weeks after he returned to Buffalo this past summer, he suffered a teres major strain that ended his season. Around those IL stints, he pitched to a 6.48 ERA and 5.64 FIP in 90.1 minor league innings in the Blue Jays organization. He is currently pitching in the Arizona Fall League, where he has given up 10 runs on 13 hits in 10.2 frames.

Despite those unimpressive numbers, Bloss has a lot of talent in his right arm. There is a very good chance he will contribute meaningful innings for Toronto in 2027. Now, thankfully, there's no pressure for those innings to come straight away. So, he will most likely begin the season with the Bisons, honing his craft and readying himself for when the Blue Jays need the depth. 

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