#TotallyRichard Post Deadline Thoughts: Blue Jays Got A Tidy Return for What They Gave Up

There comes a time in every lost season where fans stop looking at the standings and begin to count down the weeks to the trade deadline. For some people in that boat, the trade deadline can come with a one-way ticket back to reality. There’s always this June mindset of “let’s see how much we can get for everybody,” as if a collection of underperforming athletes will somehow turn extremely valuable once you separate them from each other.

The Blue Jays in 2018 are no different. I’m still of the belief that the roster that management put together over the winter should have won around 84-86ish games, but pretty much nobody has played up to the level that they’re capable of. The inability to stay on the field mixed with subpar play still stands at the forefront of their problems. And expectations going into the deadline should have reflected that.

A lot of times, a trade deadline sell-off isn’t flashy; it’s a lot like a garage sale where you’re trying to hand off stuff that you’ve barely used to people that might get minimal use out of it before they move onto something else. It sounds cruel, but it’s sports. For a lot of selling teams, most of the players being shopped at the deadline will provide relief somewhere down the line in a pennant race, but it’s not like every bottom-feeding team has multiple big-ticket assets to part ways with. I mean, teams are selling for a reason, right? The Blue Jays could have sold low on Marcus Stroman or Aaron Sanchez, but I don’t think the Blue Jays should be out to trade people just for the sake of trading them. We know what both starter is capable of, and it would damn near be giving them away for free.

So, how did they do? They began by sending soon to be free agent and 35-year-old Steve Pearce to Boston once they realized that not only were they not going to be in it this season, but there were just way too many outfielders on the roster. What they got back was a middle infield prospect in Santiago Espinal that was listed in FanGraphs Fringe Five back in May. Weeks after that, Seunghwan Oh was dealt to the Rockies, Happ to the Yankees, Osuna to the Astros, Loup to the Phillies, and Axford to the Dodgers.

Save for one of those, you could have seen all of those coming, and realistically, you weren’t going to get back a whole ton. Oh’s contract has a $2.5M vesting option for 2019 if he appears in 70 games (he was at 48 when he was traded), and was the only one that was dealt that was under contract next year not named Roberto Osuna. Given what they were trying to do at the deadline – which is essentially get younger and shed themselves of as many expiring deals as they can – they weren’t going to really get much. The only one traded that had a lot of value and control also has a court date later today. So, you know…

Even though it wasn’t the best deadline compared to fan expectations, the Blue Jays still made out pretty well. They acquired ten players – five of which now appear in the MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Prospects list. Even though it wasn’t the type of return they probably should have gotten for Happ – higher ceiling younger players as opposed to MLB ready ones – they still got pretty good value for a 35-year-old on an expiring deal. I’m still not sure what their plans are for their surplus of infielders, or why they needed yet another low OBP, high power outfielder, but Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney, at least value wise, is more than a fair return for the lefty.

And then there’s the other thing.

Look, I get that he’s innocent until proven guilty, and that people will continue to stand by him for whatever reason, but the Jays decided internally that Roberto Osuna was going to get the boot from the organization well before the deadline. Would they have kept him around had they been in a pennant race and needed his services? Can’t tell you for sure, but they aren’t. So even if you’re willing to overlook everything else, the fact of the matter is that this team is well into a rebuild and Osuna is a reliever. They have no need for him pitching even if he had been an upstanding citizen that planted trees and saved the world in his free time. The Blue Jays would have gotten much more for him if that was the case, but I don’t think trading him is something to be too upset about. Even with the uncertainty surrounding him, the Astros gave up Ken Giles, a pretty good closer himself if you look at stuff like strikeout and walk rates, as well as FIP over the past few years. Also in the return was intriguing prospect in Hector Perez and somebody once promising that needs to get back on track in David Paulino. Could that have been better had Osuna not been arrested? Sure, but it was still a nice little haul for the team.

The Blue Jays didn’t turn water into wine like people were hoping, but the deadline passed and they added to a studded system with a sprinkling of players that could turn out to be something. It would have been nice to get another top tier prospect, but when you look at who was dealt and then Ross Atkins, noticing that he’s not Jesus Christ, I don’t think you can be too upset at the moves. Of course, like any baseball mind, I have to tell you that players can still be dealt once they clear waivers, but I think the majority of the moves are behind us. Granderson will probably be dealt eventually, but an old outfielder slashing .234/.337/.422 won’t get you much anyway.

And of course, this goes without saying, but a certain third baseman coming back and raking in August could make things pretty interesting…