Futility man Bonifacio dealt to Kansas City
Jose Reyes missed a couple of calls from Emilio Bonifacio on Wednesday afternoon, but didn’t think anything of it until he got to the Blue Jays’ clubhouse and noticed his friend’s locker had been cleaned out.
“He’s like a brother to me,” Reyes said. “It’s tough.”
Bonifacio will join the Royals in Detroit on Thursday after the Jays dealt the 28year-old utility man to K.C. for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
Whether the Jays receive a player or cash from the Royals will be announced by mid-September, GM Alex Anthopoulos said.
Bonifacio, acquired by the Jays last November from the Marlins as part of the blockbuster 12-player swap, struggled throughout his short tenure in Toronto. He hit .218 with a .258 on-base percentage — far below the .271/.332 marks he set in four years in Miami — while committing a team-leading six fielding errors in limited playing time at second base.
When Anthopoulos sought to include Bonifacio alongside Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle and Jose Reyes in the trade with Miami, he obviously had higher hopes for the super-sub. But like many Jays this season, he underachieved and was clearly a liability in the infield, which is where the Jays were hoping he’d play.
“We thought we’d get more out of him offensively, defensively, all of it,” Anthopoulos admitted. “That didn’t happen.”
Anthopoulos and Reyes were both at a loss to explain Bonifacio’s underperformance.
“In baseball you’re going to have some years like this,” Reyes said. “You try everything and it doesn’t go your way.”
Since the July 31non-waiver trade deadline has already passed, Bonifacio had to be placed on revocable waivers before he could be traded. Kansas City claimed him Tuesday and the Jays finalized a trade Wednesday morning, Anthopoulos said.
Bonifacio will now join his younger brother Jorge, an outfielder in the Royals’ farm system ranked as the organization’s No. 5 prospect. Rasmus heads to DL Also Wednesday, the Jays added centre fielder Colby Rasmus to the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain, heralding the major-league debut of outfield prospect Kevin Pillar. The club is hoping Rasmus can nip the injury in the bud with limited rest. Johnson awaits MRI results The Jays were to receive results from Josh Johnson’s MRI on Wednesday night, which should shed some light on the right-hander’s immediate future. Johnson was added to the15-day DL with a forearm strain on Tuesday.
While swingman Esmil Rogers started in Johnson’s place Wednesday, Anthopoulos said Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison — both coming off of 2012 Tommy John surgeries — will receive consideration the next time through the rotation. “We’re hopeful that both of those guys could get going and they’ll be candidates to come up here at some point. But we want to see them perform and get going a little bit.”
Both Drabek and Hutchison pitched for Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday. Hutchison pitched three innings, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out four. Drabek, who came on in relief of Hutchison, pitched three perfect innings, striking out three batters without allowing a hit or walk.