Francis announced his retirement from baseball Tuesday, the Denver Post reports.

EDGE Analysis

The lefty turned in strong numbers in his time with the Blue Jays' Triple-A Buffalo affiliate in 2015 (2.35 ERA, 1.05 WHIP), but was knocked around at the major league level and ultimately decided "it was time" to hang up the cleats. A first-round pick in 2002 (ninth overall), he helped lead the Rockies to the World Series in 2007, going 17-7 with a 4.22 ERA, and ranks third in Rockies history with 64 career wins.

The Blue Jays recalled Francis from Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday, Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star reports.

EDGE Analysis

Francis has worked mainly as a starter with Buffalo this season, but it seems likely he will pitch out of the bullpen with the big club. He figures to be used as a multi-inning reliever and will be available for a spot start if needed.

Francis cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday. He will join Buffalo on Friday and offer the Jays some organizational left-handed reliever depth.

Francis was designated for assignment Sunday, Sportsnet's Shi Davidi reports. Francis owns a 6.75 ERA and 1.75 WHIP, but he does have 15 strikeouts over just 12 innings (eight appearances), working mostly in medium and low-leverage situations. He'll be replaced by Todd Redmond in the Toronto bullpen.

Francis gave up two earned runs while giving up two hits and a walk in 0.1 innings to take the loss in Sunday's 10-7 defeat to the Indians. That's now back-to-back appearances where Francis has given up an earned run, something he's done in three of his five outings this season. With as much instability as the Blue Jays have in their bullpen, Francis should remain in the big leagues; however, he has extremely limited fantasy value.

Francis pitched 2.1 innings of relief, scattering three hits and one earned run while striking out three to pick up his first win of the season in Thursday's 5-1 win over the Indians. Pitching on back-to-back days for the first time all season, Francis got the job done, never really getting into too much trouble across his 38 pitches. The former starter has been valuable to a team that's starting a pair of rookies in the rotation and should continue to find multiple innings of work semi-regularly. Despite his good strikeout numbers, he has limited fantasy value due to the irregularity of his playing time.

Francis struck out two in one inning of work in Wednesday's 4-1 loss to the Red Sox. Since getting called up on April 19, he's made three appearances with Wednesday being the first clean appearance of the season. The 34-year-old has mostly been called upon for long mop-up duty, pitching 3.1 innings in each of his first two outings. The former starter could be called upon to make a spot start if Aaron Sanchez continues to struggle, but Francis has limited fantasy value whether he's in the pen or as a starter.

Francis had his contract selected from Triple-A Buffalo on Sunday. Francis began the year strong for the Bisons, allowing just two hits and no earned runs over five innings in his first start of 2015. He'll provide the Jays with another left-handed arm out of the pen, but is unlikely to see much time in high-leverage situations in the short term.

Francis did not make the Opening Day roster, Sportsnet's Shi Davidi reports. As expected, Francis will open his season with Triple-A Buffalo serving as organizational depth.

Francis signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays that includes an invitation to spring training, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports. The native Canadian will head back to his home country in attempt to keep his big league career alive, but the odds would seem to be against him winning a gig with the Blue Jays out of spring training. He contributed an ugly 5.85 ERA across 20 innings with the Reds, Athletics and Yankees.