Ready to work
Newly-acquired Tulowitzki sees a winning team in the Blue Jays
Troy Tulowitzki is recovering from the shock of being traded, but he’s ready to start winning.
The Blue Jays’ newly acquired shortstop made it clear that he’s ready to get down to work after Tuesday’s blockbuster deal that sent him and reliever LaTroy Hawkins from the Colorado Rockies to Toronto in exchange for shortstop Jose Reyes, reliever Miguel Castro and minor-league pitchers Jeff Hoffman and Jesus Tinoco.
Tulowitzki, who played his entire 10-year career in Colorado, had long heard rumours about being traded but expected Rockies ownership to tell him if he was going to be moved.
“To be with a different organization now is shocking,” said Tulowitzki on Wednesday afternoon. “At the same time, I’m looking forward to the future because I see a winning team, a winning culture. I know they haven’t won a World Series here in a while, so to be a part of something like that would be memorable.
“I think that’s what you play this game for, to win. I think there’s a great possibility here that that could happen and very soon.”
Tulowitzki had only been in Rogers Centre for a couple of hours when he spoke to reporters Wednesday afternoon, so the little things of being in the Blue Jays’ organization still stuck out to him.
“I’m still shocked when I walk in to a clubhouse and it’s not purple, it’s different for me,” said Tulowitzki, who said speaking with his family about the move put him at ease. “I think as games go on and I get some games under my belt and I meet these guys, go on a road trip, win some games, I think I’ll feel more comfortable.
“I think it’s something I’m not going to be able to force, it’s just going to have to come whenever it does.”
Tulowitzki was set to make his Blue Jays debut Wednesday night against the Philadelphia Phillies in Toronto.
Hawkins debuted Tuesday night in a 3-2 loss to Philadel- phia, pitching a scoreless inning of relief.
The pair from Colorado are moving from a Rockies team (43-56) that is in last in the National League West, to Toronto (50-51), which is in the hunt for a wild-card spot in the American League and could possibly catch the New York Yankees for top spot in the AL East.