Blue Jays acquire Braves’ veteran closer Jason Grilli in a trade

The Toronto Blue Jays acquired former closer Jason Grilli from the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday for a pitching prospect.

A 39-year-old right-hander, Grilli is 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA and two saves in his comeback from a career-threatening injury. Grilli’s 2015 season ended when tore his left Achilles’ tendon on July 11. He had 24 saves and a 2.94 ERA in 36 games before the injury.

Hard-throwing Arodys Vizcaino has six saves and a 1.66 ERA in his emergence as the Braves’ new closer.

Atlanta, 15-35 entering Tuesday and tied with Minnesota for the major leagues’ worst record, is rebuilding. General Manager John Coppolella said the trade helps open a spot for another young arm.

“We wanted to go with young pitching,” Coppolella said. “What we’ve tried to do in a year like this is to try to find out what we have with the arms we have here.”

The Braves expect to have right-hander Jim Johnson (right groin strain) come off the 15-day disabled list on Friday. Coppolella said right-hander Shae Simmons, recovering from Tommy John surgery, also should soon join Atlanta’s roster.

Toronto also gets $2,175,000 from Atlanta, offsetting much of the $2,371,585 remaining after Tuesday of Grilli’s $3.5 million salary this year. His deal includes a $3 million team option for 2017 with a $250,000 buyout.

Atlanta obtained right-hander Sean Ratclilffe, an 18th-round pick in 2013 who was 2-2 with a 3.60 ERA in 22 games with Class-A Vancouver last year. The Braves recalled right-hander Ryan Weber from Triple-A Gwinnett to fill Grilli’s spot on the active roster.

Etc.

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