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Examining how Ross Atkins has handled being a seller in the past
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Ryley Delaney
Jul 24, 2024, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 24, 2024, 10:45 EDT
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It’s been a hot minute since the Toronto Blue Jays found themselves as sellers at the trade deadline.
When they took over at the end of the 2015 season, they inherited an aging contender. The moves made before the start of the 2016 season (namely J.A. Happ), as well as moves at the deadline (trading Drew Hutchison for Francisco Liriano and prospects), helped push the team to their second consecutive American League Championship Series. However, the Jays fell to Cleveland in five games, and they’ve yet to win a playoff game since.
In fairness, the rebuild was quick, really only lasting a season and a half from midway through the 2018 season until the end of the 2019 season. With that being said, the Blue Jays missed three postseasons from 2017 until 2019, and each of those deadlines, they made moves at the deadline that made them look like sellers. Well, the Blue Jays have a 45-55 record, and sit 15 games back of the division lead and 10 games back of the final Wild Card spot. For the first time in 2019, the Jays will sell, even if it won’t be a full rebuild.
With that being said, it’s been a long time since Ross Atkins handled selling at the trade deadline. Let’s look at what he did at the 2017, 2018, and 2019 trade deadlines.

2017 trade deadline

The 2017 trade deadline saw the Blue Jays attempt to go for it just one more time. There was merit to that, as they had made the American League Championship Series the prior two seasons, and even on August 17, 2017, they sat just three games back of the final Wild Card spot. Albeit, with seven teams to jump.
Still, the Blue Jays made moves in line with selling. Their biggest move was when they traded Francisco Liriano to the Houston Astros in exchange for Nori Aoki and Teoscar Hernández. It took the latter a few seasons to really get going, but Hernández eventually became an All-Star with the Jays in 2021 and with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024.
Nearly a month out from the deadline, the Jays traded a key reliever from their 2016 run, Jason Girilli, to the Texas Rangers for outfield prospect Eduard Pinto. Unfortunately, Pinto never panned out, a common trend for all teams selling at the deadline. The same day, the Blue Jays traded Lane Thomas to the St. Louis Cardinals for international signing bonus pool money.
There were a few more minor trades that month, the most notable being when they traded prospect Ryan McBroom for Rob Refsynder, who still plays in the big leagues to this day. The last, and most important move, is when they traded reliever Joe Smith to Cleveland in exchange for prospects Thomas Pannone and Samad Taylor.
Taylor has had a cup of coffee in the big leagues, but was part of the deal that brought Whit Merrifield to Toronto at the 2022 trade deadline. Pannone pitched a couple of seasons with the Jays in 2018 and 2019, before pitching in Korea and with the Milwaukee Brewers. Recently, he signed a minor league deal with the New York Yankees.

2018 trade deadline

After declining a deal to move Josh Donaldson to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jack Flaherty, yikes, the Blue Jays started the 2018 season with an 18-13 record.
Their season fell apart quickly though, as 2015 American League MVP Josh Donaldson hit the injured list on April 11, before hitting it again on June 1, never playing another game for Toronto. In early May, Blue Jays star closer Roberto Osuna was suspended for violating the league’s domestic assault policy. He also never played another game for the Jays.
Thus, the season saw the Blue Jays fully commit to the rebuild. On June 28, 2018, the Jays traded future World Series MVP Steve Pearce to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Santiago Espinal, a good trade for both parties. The Jays also acquired Jon Berti that month, and while he only played four games for the Jays in 2018, he’s carved out a nice role for himself in the big leagues.
The Blue Jays traded the recently reinstated Osuna almost immediately, landing Ken Giles, David Paulino, and Hector Perez from the Houston Astros. Although often injured, Giles was a great closer for the team in 2019 (more on that later), while Paulino and Perez never amounted to much. The latter pitched two innings in the big leagues.
One of the more underrated trades of this time was when the Jays moved rental reliever Seunghwan Oh to the Colorado Rockies (yes, they were good at one point), in exchange for Chad Spanberger, Forrest Wall, and Player to be Named Later, Bryan Baker. Spanberger hasn’t played since 2021 (and landed the Blue Jays Chase Anderson after the 2019 season), but Forrest Wall is an AAAA player for the Atlanta Braves, while Baker has played an important role in the Baltimore Orioles bullpen at times.
The same day, the Jays traded J.A. Happ to the New York Yankees for Billy McKinney and Brandon Drury. The former found his way back to the Yankees in 2023 where he hit six home runs, while the latter had three really good seasons from 2021 until 2023.
Toronto also traded reliever Aaron Loup to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Jacob Waguespack. The long-man was solid in 2019, struggled in 2020, but pitched well with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons in 2021 before heading to Japan for a few seasons. He found his way back to the big leagues, signing with the Tampa Bay Rays prior to the start of the 2024 season.
The Blue Jays made a few more minor moves in July and August, moving Canadian John Axford to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Corey Copping, as well as Curtis Granderson to the Milwaukee Brewers for Demi Orimoloye. Moreover, they traded useful infielder Gio Urshela to the New York Yankees, not great in hindsight.
What’s even worse was how the Donaldson situation was handled. The Blue Jays had an opportunity to land a stud pitcher in Jack Flaherty, but due to thinking they could do something in 2018 and poor luck, the Blue Jays didn’t get much of anything for the 2015 AL MVP. Donaldson had to clear waivers under a different set of rules, and the Jays were able to trade Donaldson to Cleveland for a Player to be Named later, eventually turning into Julian Merryweather.
The often-injured reliever had a successful 2023 season, but has pitched 5.1 innings this year, along with a stint on the 60-day Injured List. Still, this is arguably Ross Atkins’ biggest missed opportunity as the Blue Jays general manager.

2019 trade deadline

The 2019 Blue Jays were in full rebuild mode. There was no hot start to the season, nor hanging around a Wild Card spot in August. The 2019 Blue Jays sucked, but they were fun because there was a future to look forward to, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette on the horizon.
Their ace, Marcus Stroman, was the biggest name to go as he was set to become a free agent at the end of the 2020 season, meaning he had a season and a half left of team control. The Blue Jays decided to trade him to the New York Mets in exchange for Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson.
Just two years later, Woods Richardson was a top 100 prospect in baseball, and was packaged with fifth-overall pick in the 2020 draft, Austin Martin, in exchange for José Berríos at the trade deadline. The 23-year-old has had a terrific rookie campaign with the Minnesota Twins.
Eric Sogard was a free agent signing in late December 2018, but had a terrific year and was moved to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Canadian Curtis Taylor and Edisson Gonzalez. Taylor currently pitches in Mexico, while Gonzalez hasn’t pitched in affiliated ball since he was released in 2022. Sogard played for Team Czechia in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, which is pretty cool.
Another big move was when the Jays moved 2016 ERA leader Aaron Sanchez, as well as Joe Bigani and prospect Cal Stevenson to the Houston Astros for Derek Fisher. Biagini and Sanchez were part of a combined no-hitter in their first outing, while Fisher was hit in the face trying to catch the ball on a flyout. Both Sanchez and Biagini returned to the Jays organization, while Cal Stevenson (now 27) is torching Triple-A in the Phillies organization.
Speaking of finding their way back to the organization, the Jays traded David Phelps to the Chicago Cubs for Thomas Hatch. Phelps rejoined the organization in 2021 and ended his career in 2022, while Hatch pitched well in 2020 before struggling over his next three seasons. He now pitches in Japan.
Another reliever, Daniel Hudson, was traded to the Washington Nationals in exchange for Kyle Johnston. Hudson got the final out of the World Series-winning team, while Johnston pitched in independent ball in 2024.
Despite not really trading for anyone of note, what’s more frustrating is that the Jays could have traded expiring free agent Justin Smoak, as well as reliever Ken Giles for some decent prospects. Smoak had 18 home runs and a 112 wRC+ in 363 plate appearances on July 31, 2019, while Giles had an extra season of team control while the Jays had little use for him and his 23 saves.
Unfortunately, Giles was injured early in the 2020 season, while the 37-year-old Smoak was out of Major League Baseball the following season, heading to Japan for the final season of his career in 2021.

To summarize

The last time the Blue Jays had a period of selling at the trade deadline, things didn’t go great. They found some useful players in the big leagues, such as Bryan Baker and Brandon Drury, but they only broke out after leaving Toronto.
Moreover, there were some players who ate innings for the team when they weren’t great, such as Jacob Waguespack, Thomas Pannone, and Thomas Hatch, but in reality, they didn’t land a star.
The Jays did a good job of using prospects acquired in selling periods, just to flip them in trades when they were buyers, moving Simeon Woods Richardson for José Berríos, and Samad Taylor for Whit Merrifield.
Of course, there are outliers, such as landing Teoscar Hernández for Francisco Liriano of all players, but it was few and far between when the Blue Jays sold. 
Funnily enough, a player the Blue Jays traded in 2017, 2018, and 2019 won the World Series, as Francisco Liriano won with the 2017 Houston Astros, Steve Pearce won with the 2018 Boston Red Sox, and Daniel Hudson won with the 2019 Washington Nationals.
Could the same thing happen in 2024 when the Blue Jays sell?
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.

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