Thursday evening, the Blue Jays swung a trade to land catcher Miguel Olivo from the Rockies. However, they had roughly an hour before they had to make a decision regarding Olivo's 2011 option. The Blue Jays could either pick it up and keep him around for $2.5 million, or they could decline it and pay a $0.5 million buyout.
Miguel Olivo’s Option Declined By Blue Jays; Becomes Free Agent
The Blue Jays opted for the buyout. An hour after getting traded from Colorado to Toronto, Olivo had his option declined and thus became a free agent, free to sign with whichever suitor he pleases.
For Toronto, this is nothing but a complicated means of buying a draft pick. Miguel Olivo is a Type B free agent. What that means is that, in the event that he signs elsewhere, the Blue Jays will receive a compensatory supplemental pick for the price of a player to be named later and $0.5 million. Though baseball teams aren’t allowed to exchange draft picks straight up, this is one indirect means of doing so.
Toronto’s supplemental pick will come between the first and second rounds.
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