Blue Jays exercise option on Darren Oliver, re-sign Rajai Davis

The Toronto Blue Jays have exercised their $3 million club option on left-hander Darren Oliver and re-signed Rajai Davis to a one-year, $2.5 million deal after declining his option, reports Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com:

#BlueJays exercise option on Darren Oliver. Decline option on Davis but re-sign him to one-year deal at $2.5 million.

— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) October 31, 2012

Oliver, 42, put together yet another strong season out of the bullpen, posting a 2.06 ERA and 8.3 K/9 in fifty-six and two-thirds innings. The veteran left-hander now has a string of five consecutive seasons with a sub-3.00 ERA. Though Toronto has exercised Oliver’s option, there is still a chance the veteran will choose retirement over continuing with the Blue Jays.

The 32-year-old Davis re-signs with Toronto in a strange bit of accounting. Instead of picking up the outfielder’s $3 million option for next season, the club bought him out for $500k then worked out a new deal for $2.5 million, bringing his 2013 salary back to the initial $3 million. Davis hit .257/.309/.378 with eight home runs in one hundred forty-two games for the Blue Jays this season while swiping forty-six bags on the base paths.