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On this day in Blue Jays history: Jays trade for Jo-Jo Reyes and Yunel Escobar
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Photo credit: © Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Jul 14, 2025, 19:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 14, 2025, 04:33 EDT
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Almost 15 years before the Toronto Blue Jays selected JoJo Parker, they traded for Jo-Jo Reyes (and Yunel Escobar).
On July 14, 2010, the Jays sent Álex González, Tyler Pastornicky, and Tim Collins to the Atlanta Braves for Escobar and Reyes.
Reyes didn’t make his debut with the team until 2011, where he had a 5.40 ERA and 4.63 FIP in 20 starts, or 110 innings pitched. In early August, he was designated for assignment and pitched just 30.2 innings with the Baltimore Orioles, the team that claimed him. After a two-season stint in Korea, he returned to North America and pitched another two and one-third innings in 2015 and 2016 before retiring after the 2016 season.
Escobar was the bigger piece coming back. In parts of three seasons with the Jays, the Cuban infielder slashed .272/.335/.373 with 24 home runs in 1,464 plate appearances. After the 2012 season, Escobar was involved in the massive trade with the Miami Marlins that saw the Blue Jays acquire Mark Buehrle, José Reyes, and others.
As for what they gave up, González played another four seasons in the big leagues with subpar results. Collins, a prospect, pitched in 275 games with a 3.60 ERA and 4.10 FIP in 242.1 innings pitched, retiring after the 2019 season. Pastornicky only played 124 big league games from 2012 until 2014, slashing .243/.295/.314 with two home runs in 268 plate appearances. Safe to say, the Blue Jays got the better end of the deal as they ended up with both Troy Tulowitzki and Buehrle in subsequent trades.

The Torotno Blue Jays uniform

On July 14, 1994, Blue Jays legend Joe Carter wore a Blue Jays uniform with “Torotno” written on the front, instead of Toronto. Not a great way to treat one of the two players who hit a walk-off home run to win the World Series.
It’s not the only typo on a baseball uniform in history. The most notable recent misspelling came in 2009, when Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn had the word “Natinals” on their jersey, instead of Nationals.
Another player formerly in the Blue Jays system, Eugeo Vélez, also had a misspelling on his uniform the following season. Playing for the San Francisco Giants, his uniform read San Francicso on April 7, 2010.

Blue Jays draft Trey Yesavage

On July 14, 2024, the Blue Jays were lucky enough to select Trey Yesavage 20th overall in the MLB draft. That has worked out for both parties, as Yesavage has a 3.19 ERA and 2.91 FIP in 67.2 innings pitched this season. He also is tied for the second-most strikeouts in the minor leagues with 111, and struck out the only batter he faced in the Futures Game on Saturday.
Who knows, perhaps he can impact the Blue Jays as soon as this season.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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