The Blue Jays have acquired Jonathan Villar

And here’s another addition!

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Blue Jays have acquired infielder Jonathan Villar from the Miami Marlins.

This is a very, very nice addition for the Jays, who have a gaping hole at short with Bo Bichette on the Injured List. Villar has a passable glove, but he’s more of an offence-first shortstop. He’s slashing a .272/.328/.360 line this season and leads the league with nine stolen bases. It isn’t incredible, but it’s an upgrade over what the Jays have currently been getting from their back-up infielders.

Villar will be a nice everyday fill-in for the Jays at short until Bichette gets back, and then he can potentially shift over to second base, which would open up Cavan Biggio to play around the diamond. Or, if they want to keep Biggio at second, Villar can also move around the field, as he’s played second, third, left, and centre field during his career. There are plenty of options, which is always ideal.

Heading into the trade deadline, the Jays had a couple of clear needs: add starting pitching and find somebody to cover for Bo Bichette. In Taijuan Walker and Jonathan Villar, they’ve filled both of those holes.

Also, hilariously, Villar is playing with the Marlins in New York, and the Jays play the Marlins next in Miami. That means that Villar can hop on the jet with the Marlins despite no longer being on the team and travel with them to join his new team in Miami.

Heading back to Miami will be Griffin Conine, son of Marlins legend Jeff Conine. A former second-round pick, Conine has shown tremendous power, but he strikes out a lot too. He’s a decent prospect, but far from the top of Toronto’s system, which is pretty reasonable for a quality rental.