Breaking Down the Blue Jays' 2023 Trade Deadline Moves
The 2023 MLB trade deadline was a bit of a snooze.
Sure, some big names changed places (Justin Verlander to Houston, Jack Flaherty to Baltimore). But, for the most part, it was all quiet on the baseball front.
The Blue Jays did get a bit of work done, though, and received relatively positive injury news on their star shortstop. Here's a breakdown of what Toronto did and didn't accomplish on trade deadline day, with some quotes from GM Ross Atkins.
What The Blue Jays Did Get Done
While the Jays swung a trade last week for DFA'd reliever Genesis Cabrera, the team's true deadline moves came in the last 48 hours: Jordan Hicks and Paul DeJong.
On Sunday, the Blue Jays kicked off their deadline shopping with hard-throwing reliever Hicks. The former Cardinals righty averages over 100 MPH with his fastball and has sub-3 ERA over the last three months. It's an obvious upgrade to an already strong Blue Jays bullpen and could be especially important with the recent injury to closer Jordan Romano.
"We're confident he can handle that," Atkins said on Hicks potentially subbing in for the 9th inning in the short term.
On Tuesday, Toronto's lone deadline day deal was for another Cardinal in DeJong. With Bo Bichette's precarious injury situation (more on that later), DeJong can easily fill in at shortstop in the near term, as one of baseball's best defensive infielders. Once Bichette is healthy, DeJong could fight for middle infield reps with Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal. Perhaps his most natural fit is against southpaws, as DeJong owns a .266 average and .822 OPS against lefties this year.
"He's an interesting fit for us, without the [Bichette] injury," Atkins said. "I think he's hit left-handers relatively well, very good defender that complements our organization and depth."
DeJong is a career .233 hitter with some pop who, in his best stretches, is about a league-average hitter. The 29-year-old carries team options for the next two seasons, the Blue Jays want to keep him around.
What They Didn't Do
While Hicks and DeJong undoubtedly improve the Blue Jays, the organization left deadline day without acquiring that big right-handed bat many presumed they'd bring in.
Some of that was the market, as Atkins pointed out trades were down all across the league. As well, some natural fits (like Teoscar Hernandez, Brent Rooker, and Andrew McCutchen) didn't end up moving, and may not have actually been available at all.
“A lot of the teams that speculated on potentially moving players didn't," Atkins said. "Some of the players that were rumored to be coming our way, or even available, didn't seem to be as available to us.”
So, that leaves the Blue Jays' offensive makeup largely the same as yesterday. DeJong should bring infield depth and potentially a threat against lefties, but if the Jays want more run production it's going to have to come from within. George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Daulton Varsho, and Alejandro Kirk are all posting OPS below their career averages.
While veteran bats like Trey Mancini and Nelson Cruz may still sit out there on the free agent market, Atkins indicated they prefer internal options to some of the recently DFA'd vets. Infielder Davis Schneider has 21 homers and a .991 OPS in Triple-A while Nathan Lukes and Spencer Horwitz are both hitting over .300 in the minors, too.
An Update On Bo Bichette
Perhaps the most important news that came out of Toronto on trade deadline day was the health update to Bichette. The team's star shortstop left Monday's game with a knee injury and an MRI revealed "no significant structural damage, just some inflammation," per manager John Schneider.
After the deadline passed, Atkins gave a little more insight into the injury, stating that Bichette has some "inflammation in the patellar tendon."
The Blue Jays will continue to take time to evaluate if Bichette needs an IL stint. Atkins said "it's not just a clear-cut case," and alluded to dealing with similar injuries with other Blue Jays in the past. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. missed four weeks with a patella strain in June of 2018.
