the Blue Jays released Troy Tulowitzki. On December 13, the Blue Jays selected Elvis Luciano in the Rule 5 draft, but lost Jordan Romano and Travis Bergen in the same draft to the Chicago White Sox and the San Francisco Giants, respectively. On December 28, the Blue Jays signed Matt Shoemaker to a 1-year, $3.5 million contract. On December 30, the Blue Jays acquired Clayton Richard from the San Diego Padres in exchange for minor leaguer Connor Panas. Oliver Drake was designated for assignment. January 2019 On January 4, the Blue Jays traded Oliver Drake to the Tampa Bay Rays for cash considerations. On January 11, the Blue Jays sent Russell Martin along with $16.4 million to the Los Angeles Dodgers for minor leaguers Ronny Brito and Andrew Sopko. On January 11, the Blue Jays avoided arbitration and agreed to one-year contracts with Marcus Stroman ($7.4 million), Aaron Sanchez ($3.9 million), Kevin Pillar ($5.8 million), Randal Grichuk ($5 million), Joe Biagini ($900,000), Ken Giles ($6.3 million), Devon Travis ($1.925 million), and Brandon Drury ($1.3 million). On January 12, the Blue Jays signed David Phelps to a 1-year, $2.5 million contract. On January 29, the Blue Jays signed Freddy Galvis to a 1-year, $4 million contract with a club option for 2020. Danny Barnes was designated for assignment. Spring training On March 25 and 26, the Blue Jays returned to Montreal's Olympic Stadium for two games against the Milwaukee Brewers. Standings American League East American League Wild Card Records vs opponents 2019 draft Regular season Opening Day March and April On opening day, Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann pitched a perfect game through 6 2/3 innings against the Blue Jays before giving up a hit to Teoscar Hernández. Marcus Stroman also pitched seven scoreless innings for the Blue Jays. Toronto lost the contest 2–0 in 11 innings, after Christin Stewart hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning. On April 1, Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher David Hess pitched a no-hitter through 6 1/3 innings before manager Brandon Hyde took him out of the game, in a game the Blue Jays wound up losing 6–5. On April 4, in the first game of a four-game set against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field, starter Trevor Bauer pitched seven innings of no-hit ball against the Blue Jays before being removed from the game after throwing 117 pitches, as the Blue Jays lost