The Toronto Blue Jays are a better team now than they were yesterday. With the trade deadline behind them, the Jays are the ones to be around until the end of the 2022 season. There is no longer a way to add players via trade by putting them through waivers. This is it.
The Jays upgraded their bullpen by adding two relievers from the Miami Marlins: Anthony Bass and Zach Pop.
Bass’ name may sound familiar, as he played for Toronto in 2020. The 34-year-old right-hander is having his best season yet. In 45 games, he is 2-3 with a 1.41 ERA. He has thrown 44.2 innings and allowed just 32 hits with 10 walks and 45 strikeouts. Amazingly, he only surrendered one home run. He didn’t fare well when pitching in the ninth inning, but he proved to be a solid option for the seventh and eighth innings.
Popp is 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA with the Marlins. He appeared in 18 games this year, throwing 20 innings while allowing 23 hits, walking two and striking out 14. The right-hander pounds the strike zone with a power sinker and slider. He has also allowed just one home run. He will be a good weapon to include in the base runner game when the Jays need a double play. He is a ball generating machine.
Bass and pop add to the length and depth of the Jays bullpen. They will allow manager John Schneider to shorten the game because they are two good options to blend with the rest of the bullpen.
Toronto added another pitcher, Mitchell White, from the Los Angeles Dodgers. White is 27 years old and has played in the big leagues for parts of the last three seasons. He was primarily a starter, but also served as a long reliever. He reminds me of Ross Stripling when he first came to the Jays from LA. He is a more than utility pitcher who protects Toronto’s starting pitching depth and strengthens their bullpen. If Yusei Kikuchi fails in the rotation again, White could take the ball in his place.
Finally, the Jays traded Whit Merrifield to the Kansas City Royals. Merrifield was a longtime Royal shortstop who was highly coveted by almost every team in baseball in the past. He can play second base as well as the outfield. He has led the league in hits twice, doubled once, tripled once and stolen bases three times. He is a contact hitter with speed. Although he’s down a bit (.240/.290/.352), he’s still a solid gamer who can run the bases and put the ball in play. He is a great leader and teammate. I believe a change of scenery will give him a new lease of life. I like that even though he has played more corner outfield shots, he can play center and may need to because of George Springer’s sore elbow. Springer may have to take at-bats out of the designated hitter position while his elbow heals.
Interestingly, Merrifield was one of 10 Royals who could not travel to Toronto in mid-July because he was not vaccinated. At the time, he said he would consider it if he was part of a competitive winning team. Royals wasn’t exactly that. One would have to assume that the Jays wouldn’t have traded him if they had any doubts that he would get his chance.
Are the Jays still contenders?
The Jays are certainly better because of these four acquisitions. But they feel a bit anticlimactic as they were tied to several more impactful players who ended up moving elsewhere or not moving at all.
Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani ended up not being traded, while superstar Juan Soto was dealt to San Diego for a huge package of prospects that the Jays couldn’t match. Ace pitcher Luis Castillo was traded from the Reds to the Seattle Mariners, while Frankie Montas, Oakland’s No. 1 starter, is now a Yankee. Both would help the Blue Jays significantly, but the Mariners and Yankees paid a big price in prospects to acquire them. In a way, I can understand that the Jays might not have been able to pull it off.
But I’m surprised they couldn’t make a deal for right fielder Tyler Malle from the Cincinnati Reds, who ended up being traded to Minnesota. Although it’s worth noting that Male didn’t travel north when the Reds played Toronto in May. Lefty starter Jose Quintana resurrected his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. I thought the Cubs closer David Robertson was the perfect target for the Jays, but he ended up being traded to the Phillies. For one reason or another, the Jays have traded away a number of more impactful players than they acquired.
Make no doubt about it – the Jays are still built as a playoff team. They are good enough to hold onto the top wild card spot ahead of the Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Guardians, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox. But to continue in the playoffs, the Jays will likely have to get through one or both of the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. Each team made significant improvements at the deadline to their already superior rosters. So as it stands now, the Yankees and Astros would be my matchup for the American League title. I’m not saying the Jays can’t win the pennant, but they have less room for error if they play New York and Houston. They will need to be nearly flawless in the series to beat them.
Biggest deadline winners losers
The overall winner at the trade deadline was the San Diego Padres for acquiring infielder Josh Hader, future Hall of Famer Juan Soto and first baseman Josh Bell. The Padres gave up a lot, but I also think the Nationals are winners for the scoring they gave up.
The Phillies traded starter Noah Syndergaard to the Los Angeles Angels. He’ll help the rotation as long as he doesn’t run out of gas in his first season back from Tommy John surgery. I really liked the addition of Robertson to bolster their bullpen. They also picked up young outfielder Brandon Marsh from the Phillies in a separate deal.
The Minnesota Twins improved their pitching by adding Mahle from the Reds and reliever Michael Fulmer on the heels of closer Jorge Lopez from Baltimore.
The deadline losers are the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians. They’ve been able to keep pace with the Minnesota Twins so far, but I expect that to change. Their passivity will cost them a group shot at the division title.
The Texas Rangers also fall into the underdog category. They could trade pending free agent starter Martin Perez, who is having a great year. Also, Matt Moore is effective as a lefty. Neither was traded from a team that went 46-56. This is a missed opportunity to stock up on prospects. They could trade the pitchers and then try to re-sign them in the offseason.
The Chicago Cubs were able to trade Robertson to the Phillies, but at the end of the day they did not trade catcher Willson Contreras or outfielder Ian Happ. It is not clear why. The asking price was known to be high, but at some point you made the best deal you could and got something in return. It’s possible they wanted so much that the clubs went in different directions. And so, after an emotional and tearful farewell, both Happ and Contreras will finish the season in Cubs uniforms. Again, a lost opportunity for the Cubs to rebuild.
Finally, the only team that didn’t make a single trade at the deadline was the Colorado Rockies (46-59). No addition and no subtraction. They re-signed reliever Daniel Bard but failed to move shortstop Jose Iglesias or reliever Alex Colome. Last year, they didn’t trade pending free agents Trevor Story or John Gray. It was another missed opportunity as both signed elsewhere and the Rockies got nothing but draft picks for Story. Where is the creativity? The trade deadline is a time for general manager competition. And they did absolutely nothing.
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