The Toronto Blue Jays went pitcher-heavy at the trade deadline, with the club acquiring three arms and two position players while dealing away a significant amount of prospect capital. While the Jays moved infielder Will Wagner for catching depth in Brandon Valenzuela, the club’s biggest move was sending prospect pitcher Kendrys Rojas and outfielder Alan Roden to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for right-hander Louis Varland and first baseman Ty France.

Varland is the star of the deal, with the ability to hit the high 90s on the radar gun out of the bullpen and over five years of team control per Spotrac. France, on the other hand, is more of a specialist at the plate, with strong split stats against the southpaws from the right side of the batter’s box. While he doesn’t possess a ton of power – his single season career-high 20 homers in 2022 being the benchmark – he is a career .263/.336/.402 hitter that sports an above-average OPS+ at 109.

With the Jays lacking in the ‘power’ department this season comapred to other top teams, it was a bit underwhelming to see the club acquire just one bat at the trade deadline, and one that has just six home runs to his credit this season. While the Jays have some internal power producers in Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Addison Barger, and a handful of others, the Jays opted for France alone.

This also brings up an interesting conundrum that the club will soon face. With Andres Gimenez slated to return as early as tomorrow from his IL stint and George Springer not far behind him, the Blue Jays are in a bit of a roster crunch scenario.

While the likely DFA of Buddy Kennedy is on the horizon for Gimenez, the return of Springer makes things a bit more interesting for the Jays. Following the deadline, there was a possibility that France’s time with the organization might have been limited until roster moves were needed; however, he has been hitting the ball well following his first few games donning a Jays jersey and that complicates matters.

Although he went 1 for 8 out of the gate with his new club, the right-handed bat has put together a .357/.419/.500 slash line in the small sample size, going 10 for 28 at the plate with four doubles and two RBIs with one walk. Working as the primary DH while Springer has been on the sidelines has seen France pencilled in with regularity, regardless of the handiness of the pitcher.

This is where the plot starts to thicken. Once Springer returns, the expectation would likely be that he would return to the DH role, and France might be bumped back to the bench or potentially DFA’d to make room for the veteran Jays outfielder. Does that idea change if France is swinging a hot bat? Perhaps.

Looking at the rest of the roster, there are some easy locks when it comes to who is staying (Bichette, Guerrero, Varsho, Barger, Kirk, Heineman, and Clement, for example) while there are some players that could be moved when Springer is given the green light.

Excluding Kennedy (who in this scenario was the Gimenez subtraction) and France, that leaves:

All four play in the outfield (similar to Springer), but Schneider has the added benefit of working at second base on occasion. Having that many outfield bats seems like a crowded bench with limited versatility, even if Clement, Barger, and Schneider can play multiple positions. If the Jays don’t want to lose France, then an easy move would be to send someone to the minor leagues who has options at their disposal, which is everyone but Straw per FanGraphs.

If the idea is that the Jays are going to keep the hottest bats on the big league roster, then moving Loperfido (18 hits in his last 42 at-bats), Lukes (8 for 23 with seven RBIs in his last seven games), and Schneider (.308 average and .615 SLG through his last 26 ABs) goes against that narrative. Straw, who is out of options, hasn’t had the hottest bat through his last seven games (4 for 17 with one RBI) at least in comparison, but he isn’t on the bench for his bat; he’s a defensive minded player first and foremost. Compared to the rest of the group, he fits the bench role in terms of late inning replacement who can play centre field with some wheels and isn’t losing development time rotting away as needed. He knows his role and is fine with it.

A ‘pros and cons’ arguement could be made for each player mentioned above on why they should remain or be removed from the roster, as well as with France, but ultimately, one of these players has to go if the Jays want Springer back in the fold (which makes sense).

Who that player is, I honestly have no idea at this point. I would have said France due to his rental contract and limited positional flexibility before his bat started to become consistent at the plate. Having a bona fide backup first baseman with Wagner no longer in the picture also isn’t a bad thing to have down the stretch either; it’s just whether he will get the playing time to make a difference.

To keep France in the lineup once Springer returns means one has to play the field more, which is a tougher conversation to have, given France doesn’t play anywhere else other than first base and the Jays have one already in Guerrero. Sure, you could put Springer in right field more and have Lukes/Straw/Loperfido sit or be removed from the roster, but that’s a tough decision to make based on their respective roles for this organization and increases the risk of Springer getting hurt as the season winds down.

Ultimately, the roster juggling decision doesn’t need to be made just yet, as Springer still needs to jump through some protocols before he can get into some rehab games in the minor leagues and then back to the big league stage. Maybe the decision becomes easier later this week (or the following) if one of the players mentioned above struggles and becomes the outcast, but as it currently stands, it’s not as clear and cut as one would like to think.

Do you keep the defensive-minded Straw to sit on your bench and be the defensive wizard needed late in games? Do you send down one of the players with options even if their bat says they belong? Is France going to be sticking around?

We shall see what the Blue Jays front office decides once the chips are down.

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