The Kansas City Royals made the first major splash before the MLB trade deadline by acquiring ace right-hander Johnny Cueto, but the Toronto Blue Jays might have made the biggest one. Toronto pulled off a deal with the Colorado Rockies that sent shortstop Jose Reyes and three prospects packing in exchange for All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.
The slugger is inarguably the best shortstop in baseball, but that doesn’t mean this is a perfect deal for the Jays. Here are three issues with their deal that should either give some pause, or lead to subsequent moves.
There Goes Your Leadoff Hitter
By trading Reyes, rookie second baseman Devon Travis is now thrust into Toronto’s leadoff spot with no safety net. His performance this year has been stellar; Travis is slashing .302/..360/.484 with seven home runs and three stolen bases, but entrusting such a crucial role to a rookie is a bit scary. He doesn’t have the speed at the top of the order Reyes provided, and that makes Toronto even more of a station-to-station lineup.
It’s not necessarily bad, but it’s different and less dynamic.
The Blue Jays Needed Pitching
Tulowitzki is an amazing player with power, speed and high-quality defense to boast of. But can he pitch? Because what’s holding Toronto back is a weak starting rotation, not an offense that was already the highest-scoring lineup in baseball.
The meat of the order now reads as follows: Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Troy Tulowitzki and Edwin Encarnacion. That lineup will be a beast for any pitcher to go up against, but the pitching in Toronto—both starting and in the bullpen—is unchanged. There will still be options on the trade market to improve, such as SP Jeff Samardzija, and relievers Jonathan Papelbon and Craig Kimbrel, but unless they make those moves this trade greatly improved what was already a strength.
Turf Is Scary
Finally, as great as Tulowitzki is—and his abbreviated 2014 campaign was ripped from a Greek myth—Tulowitzki is very injury prone. Now, he is taking that reputation to Toronto, where the Jays play on unforgiving turf. That turf has been a problem for many players before Tulo, one of them being Jose Reyes, and it’s scary that he will be playing half his games on it. Toronto should consider DHing Tulo semi-regularly.
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