MLB Trade Deadline: Blue Jays Add Much Needed Arms

The Major League Baseball Trade Deadline has come and gone, a shock to many with the season seemingly just begun but lo and behold we are already in the sprint to October playoff baseball. The Toronto Blue Jays, somewhat surprisingly, were one of the busiest teams ahead of the Monday 4pm deadline. The Toronto ball club was able to add depth to their starting rotation, while also adding a very versatile utility man to a team that currently sits in playoff contention with only a month remaining in the 60-game sprint.

The unlikely, pandemic-altered season has seen the young Jays core off to a very promising start, where wins are at a premium. The Blue Jays currently sit in eighth place in the American League and with the expanded playoffs, that puts them in the final spot if the postseason was to begin tomorrow. With 26 games remaining and the team somewhere between the end of a rebuild and the start of an era of contention, the Toronto front office was able to address their current needs while not sacrificing the future with the deadline deals. The Blue Jays who have been looking for pitching help with starters Nate Pearson, Matt Shoemaker and Trent Thornton all on the injured list were able to acquire former all-stars Robbie Ray and Ross Stripling to add to last weeks acquisition of Taijuan Walker to help the rotation.

Right-hander Taijuan Walker, acquired from Seattle last week, pitched six scoreless innings and picked up the win in his Blue Jays debut on Saturday. That was a nice sight to see for Blue Jays fans, as was the fact that Ross Atkins is trusting his ball club by adding additional pieces to make a real run at the powerhouses in the American League. Its certainly worth noting that Atkins was able to obtain Stripling and Ray at arguably their lowest market value with both players experiencing their worst season statistically of their respective careers. The low-risk moves now could certainly pay dividends if these guys can come back to their career numbers, both of which were all-stars as recently as 2017 and 2018. At the very least, Ray, Stripling, and Walker add many years of professional baseball pitching experience that will be imperative for such a young ball club moving forward into more pressure-packed games.

The Blue Jays acquired the big left-handed Robbie Ray from the Arizona Diamondbacks who if he gets his command back a little is a strikeout king. He has regularly ranked near the top of the National League in K/9 innings pitched (12.1/9 in his all-star campaign in 2017) with electric stuff when he keeps it in the zone. The second acquisition of the day for the Jays was the versatile, switch-hitting Jonathan Villar from the Miami Marlins. Although he wont standout offensively, Villar gives the Blue Jays veteran infield depth with Bo Bichette still on the injured list. The Dominican Republic native has tremendous speed, leading the MLB in steals, while serving time at second-base, shortstop, third-base, and even some outfield throughout his career.

The final move of the day for Atkins and the Blue Jays was arguably their best with the acquisition of Ross Stripling from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ray and Villar will most likely just become rentals for the playoff push with both becoming free agents at seasons end but the Jays will have two more years of control on Stripling. Although Stripling might not be the first name you think of with the plethora of studs on the Dodgers but the 30-year old has been a very reliable starter and reliever in his time in LA, with the exception to the beginning of the 2020 campaign. An all-star in 2018, Stripling has a career earned run average in the mid-threes which can certainly not be scoffed at. If he can keep the ball in the ballpark and find that success of years past, the Jays rotation should look promising for 2020 and beyond.

Atkins on Mondays deals;

Robbie Ray

“He has been really effective over his career,” Atkins said of Ray, who could be a mechanical tweak away from offering much more than currently expected. “With Robbie, the stuff is still electric and the stuff is there. It’s very public that the arm action changed. We believe he’s working back towards his arm stroke and arm action that he had a year ago, but the stuff is electric and the strikeouts is there. We’re optimistic we’ll be able to get him on to the plate.

Ross Stripling

“Hes a guy who’s been reliable, really good weapons, incredible secondary options and he’s throwing harder this year. He struggled a little bit against right-handed hitting, so hopefully we can help him there, but adding a very reliable arm that could be a member of our organization for an extended period of time is exciting.”

Jonathan Villar

"Jonathan Villar has the ability to play shortstop on a very regular basis, ability to play outfield, play centre-field, can bounce around all the infield positions," said Atkins. "Versatility was attractive, switch-hitting was attractive, stealing a base was attractive. Very exciting piece."

At 18-16 through 34 games of this 60-game sprint, the Toronto Blue Jays are currently listed as a 75% chance to make the playoffs. The opening day roster has certainly done their job on the field and now with the deadline deals made Monday we can see Ross Atkins and the front office of the Blue Jays wanted to reward their teams play thus far, albeit without sacrificing any of their top-tier prospects in doing so. The players acquired do have their question marks respectively but if Ray and Stripling can find that all-star form, they would be a tremendous compliment to Hyun-Jin-Ryu and the other electric young pitching prospects in the Toronto organization. Regardless of how the 2020 season pans out, Blue Jays fans should be extremely impressed by the effort of their team on the field and the support being received from front office to continue to improve as they reach the end of the rebuild era to contend once again in the coming years.