CHICAGO -- The Blue Jays' continued search for pitching depth has now led them to right-hander Tom Koehler.
Toronto acquired the 31-year-old starter in a trade with the Marlins late Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays sent Minor League righty Osman Gutierrez to Miami as part of the deal.
The Blue Jays have yet to announce their intentions for Koehler, but he'll likely report to Triple-A Buffalo. He has an option remaining on his contract, and most recently he was pitching for Triple-A New Orleans following a disappointing first half to the season in Miami.
Koehler tossed at least 176 innings during each of the previous three seasons for the Marlins. This year he made 12 starts, but he went 1-5 while posting a 7.92 ERA. The biggest reason behind the diminished performance was the 2.4 homers per nine innings he allowed compared to a 1.1 mark the year before.
The native of New York has another year of control beyond this season, but he's earning $5.75 million in 2017 and is a candidate to be non-tendered at the end of the year. Over parts of six seasons in the big leagues, Koehler is 36-53 with a 4.43 ERA in 146 games, (132 starts).
Toronto has a pair of starting jobs at the Major League level that are up for grabs. Nick Tepesch made what will possibly be his final start for Toronto in Saturday afternoon's 4-3 loss to the Cubs, while Chris Rowley has a pair of decent outings under his belt and has allowed just three earned runs over 10 1/3 innings. Joe Biagini, Brett Anderson and now Koehler will be considered for any vacancies that come up in the near future.
Gutierrez was not ranked by MLBPipeline.com as one of Toronto's top prospects. The 22-year-old made 18 starts for Class A Lansing this season, and he went 4-11 with a 7.85 ERA. He struck out 71 over 78 innings while walking 52.