Blue Jays interested in reliever Soriano

TORONTO -- Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos told reporters Friday that his team has interest in signing free-agent reliever Rafael Soriano, who's scheduled to hold an open workout for teams next week in the Dominican Republic.

"Yeah, I think it's fair to say [there's interest]," Anthopoulos said prior to the Blue Jays' series opener against the Astros. "I normally don't comment about specific players, but that's someone that we'll look into. I think it's stating the obvious there."

Reports surfaced Thursday that the Blue Jays were believed to be among several teams in the hunt to acquire the veteran right-hander, who has yet to sign with a team this year after spending the previous two seasons with the Nationals.

Soriano, 35, cut ties with agent Scott Boras earlier this week after losing the closer's job with Washington last summer and being unable to land a contract during the offseason. Soriano's 117 saves from 2012-14 ranked third in the Majors.

"If there's a bullpen piece out there, we'll look to do something," Anthopoulos said. "I know there's been reports about us inquiring about guys, and that's fair to say. I wouldn't deny those."

Anthopoulos also responded to comments made by D-backs general manager Dave Stewart, who said his club had interest in Blue Jays catcher Dioner Navarro prior to acquiring Welington Castillo from the Mariners in a six-player trade involving outfielder Mark Trumbo.

"From our standpoint, if we were going to spend any payroll dollars, those would probably be allocated toward the mound in some capacity," Anthopoulos said, before reiterating his efforts to find Navarro a starting job so long as it makes sense for the team.

"If there's that opportunity where we improve the club and it gets him an everyday playing job, we would do that," he said. "I've told that to him as well. He understands that."