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The team has seven days to trade Mayza, release him or place him on waivers.

The left-hander started Friday’s final inning and gave up four straight singles, then a double. All the runners wound up scoring, ballooning Mayza’s ERA to an unsightly 8.03 for the season. In 35 appearances, the 32-year old allowed 36 hits and 12 walks in only 24 2/3 innings, with 16 strikeouts. Opposing hitters posted a collective .925 on-base-plus-slugging percentage against him.

It’s a long way from the three seasons prior, when Mayza was one of the best lefty relievers in the game. He posted a 2.67 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over 193 appearances from 2021-23, as the Jays worked him hard after his return from 2019 Tommy John surgery.

The Allentown, Penn., native was drafted by the Jays in the 12th round in 2013 and made his major-league debut four years later, reaching the big leagues to stay in August, 2019.

“It’s tough, it’s tough,” said manager John Schneider before Saturday’s game of the decision to drop Mayza from the roster. “Talked to him last night a little bit and again this morning. It’s been a tough year for him, obviously. ... He’s been a class act, as a player, teammate, husband and father. ... He’s done a lot for this team and the players, being a stabilizing guy down in the bullpen.”

The Jays’ bullpen was among the best in baseball last season — their 105 holds ranked second in the majors and their 18 blown saves was the third-lowest total. Mayza was a big part of that, with 22 holds and only two blown saves, but so were Jordan Romano, Yimi Garcia and Erik Swanson, all of whom are unavailable to the Jays due to injury (Garcia is on the way back from a right elbow nerve problem, but Romano is going to see elbow specialist Dr. Keith Meister in Texas on Tuesday) or underperformance (Swanson went into the weekend with a 15.09 ERA in Triple-A).

“It’s hard, really,” said Trevor Richards. He and Genesis Cabrera are the only relievers to have been on the Jays’ active roster all season.

“It’s part of the game and it just shows you how quickly things can change. But also it shows that baseball’s hard. It happens, and it just so happened that right now, this year, for us it all kind of happened at once.” 

Richards, who was traded to the Jays to help fix a leaky bullpen in July of 2021, knows the quiet and unassuming Mayza will be missed in the clubhouse.

“He’s the guy that everybody loves,” said the reliable right-hander, who will be on the trading block himself should the Jays decide to sell at the July 30 deadline. “Everybody jokes around with him, has fun. You respect him because of how he goes about his work, that’s just the kind of guy Tim is.”

Mayza spoke on the Star’s Deep Left Field podcast in spring training about going into the season as the Jays’ longest-tenured player.

“It means a lot,” said the lefty back in March. “I’ve seen this whole thing through and seen the good moments and the disappointing and tough moments and the seasons where maybe we didn’t do so well (2017-19) and the seasons where we did really well (2020-23). ... It’s a really cool feeling.”

Unfortunately, that feeling only lasted half a season. Catcher Danny Jansen, who made his debut on Aug. 13, 2018, is now the current Jays’ player who has worn the uniform the longest. Jansen is a free agent at season’s end.