Getting ‘the best shortstop’ too good to pass up
Upgrading talent at the core of GM’s process
• On one level, the trade may have seemed puzzling. The team with the big offence desperately needs a starting pitcher. So it deals for one of the better-hitting shortstops in the game — the best all-round player at the position, if you believe the general manager who just landed him.
On another level, the Blue Jays’ acquisition of Colorado star Troy Tulowitzki represents an imaginative move by Alex Anthopoulos to address both short- and long-term issues.
Whether it helps turn the Blue Jays into a contender is another matter. Whether Anthopoulos can grab a starting pitcher on the trade front before Friday’s deadline will help to answer that question.
The Jays dispatched shortstop and leadoff man Jose Reyes, 32, and three pitching prospects — including reputed fast-tracker Jeff Hoffman — to the Rockies for Tulowitzki, 30, and retiring reliever LaTroy Hawkins, 42.
“We’re getting the best shortstop in baseball in our mind and those opportunities don’t often present themselves,” Anthopoulos said. “We’re just thrilled and we improved two spots there.”
As he surveys the market, Anthopoulos said he is not holding out for pitching but aims to improve his team at any position. He clearly did that by acquiring Tulowitzki, who is scheduled to join the Jays for Wednesday night’s game against the Phillies.
Once an elite shortstop, the injury-prone Reyes has lapsed both offensively and especially defensively. Several of his errors on routine plays have cost the Jays dearly and his on-base percentage has gradually declined over the past three seasons.
Nonetheless, he remains a good player. But Tulowitzki is undeniably better, on both sides of the ball, although he too has spent long periods on the disabled list in recent years. Tulowitzki also adds power to a lineup already rife with it.
As the Blue Jays struggled all season to escape the .500 plateau, it became increasingly apparent that they needed to address the Reyes situation. They did not want to embarrass the veteran by replacing him in the late innings of close games with the slick-fielding Ryan Goins. He was not amenable to changing positions. Reyes was also under contract for two more seasons at US$22-million per year, with a US$22-million club option for 2018. It was an onerous commitment for a declining player.
Asked if Reyes’s defensive problems provided greater incentive to pursue Tulowitzki, Anthopoulos said no.
“Get the best player at a position,” he said. “That’s always going to be our incentive.”
In fact, Anthopoulos had heard last winter that Colorado might be willing to trade Tulowitzki. Off-and-on talks since then heated up Monday when Anthopoulos agreed to deal Hoffman, whom the Rockies had demanded all along.
Toronto made Hoffman its top draft pick in 2014, despite the fact that the right-hander had just had Tommy John surgery. He has a 2.93 ERA in his first 13 minor-league starts this year.
The other prospects heading for Denver are Miguel Castro, now in Triple-A after an abortive hot start with the Jays in April, and Jesus Tinoco, a starter at low Class-A Lansing.
The trade for Tulowitzki provides the Jays with important advantages for the long term. He is under club control for five years at a cost of nearly US$100 million, assuming the Jays do not trade him and they elect to buy him out of the club option for the 2021 season. He ensures the club will keep a potent power bat — along with Josh Donaldson — during a period when they likely will lose Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion.
Asked if he thought the Jays could earn a playoff berth without adding a starting pitcher, Anthopoulos said that is a better question to ask Friday after the non-waiver trade deadline passes. Meanwhile, the Jays remain a buyer.
“We’re in contention right now,” he said. “There’s nothing really scientific about it. We’ve got a very strong offensive club. We’re .500, but we’re not many games away from the wild card (three before the start of play Tuesday). I think the fact that we play the Yankees as often as we do (13 more times), even though I think we’re seven back, puts us in a position to contend.”
To those questioning the depth of his team’s prospect pool, Anthopoulos praised the potential of Sean Reid-Foley, a 2014 second-rounder now at Class A Dunedin, and Jonathan Harris, this year’s top pick.
“Conner Greene (at Dunedin) has been unbelievable, up to 97 miles an hour, strike-thrower,” Anthopoulos said. “At 20 years old, he’s really coming on fast. He’s been outstanding. Jairo Labourt’s got tremendous stuff. (Alberto) Tirado is up to 100 miles an hour with an outpitch slider. (Jimmy) Cordero in New Hampshire has been up to 102, I think. They all come up in trades. (Position players) Anthony Alford, Mitch Nay, (Richard) Urena, Max Pentecost, their names all come up in deals. It doesn’t mean we’re going to trade any of them, but we feel like we’re pretty deep.”
Naturally, he will try to hold on to as many of those prospects as he can. That will be tough, given market forces at this time of year.
“You try to do what’s right for the organization,” he said. “That’s probably the greatest challenge. If anybody asks you (about) being a GM, managing the short and the long term, it’s real, real tough.”