Blue Jays Pay High Price in Trade with Twins for Reliever, Veteran Bat
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The Toronto Blue Jays made two pretty big moves right as the trade deadline clock was winding down on Thursday.
The Minnesota Twins were willing to part with one of their best relievers in Louis Varland as well as their first baseman, Ty France.
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But the price the Blue Jays paid was a pretty steep one. Toronto shipped Alan Roden, a rookie outfielder that has hellped the Blue Jays at the Major League level this year, along with Top 10 pitching prospect Kendry Rojas.
The right-handed Varland had a 2.02 ERA in 49 innings. In his last 15 games with the Twins he had a 1.76 ERA and struck out nine hitters. With the status of reliever Yimi Garcia, still in doubt, the Blue Jays were clearly hoping to add a bit more depth.
The righty is only 27-years-old and is under team control through the 2030 season. This could potentially be a monstrous acquisition for the future of Toronto's bullpen.
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France has played in the infield at a variety of positions though primarily first base. The 31-year-old made his debut back in 2019 and has plenty of experience swinging a bat against tough pitchers.
As of late France has been fantastic. In the last 20 at-bats he has slashed .350/.480/.500 with two RBI and four drawn walks. He could add some immediate offensive production to the lineup. With the health of Anthony Santander still in doubt, France could swing into the DH spot, give Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a day off and work at third base, a trouble spot for Toronto at times.
Sending Roden and Rojas to Minnesota was a steep price to pay, however. It may be especially regrettable with Rojas.
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Rojas has yet to make his debut into the Majors. The 22-year-old was just promoted to Triple-A. The lefty has gone 1-3 in 10 starts this year posting a 3.46 ERA, but his recent debut at Buffalo didn't go well. In five innings he allowed two home runs and six earned runs.
Roden, a 25-year-old outfielder is slashing .204/.283/.306 on the year, but has appeared to find his swing recently. In the last 15 games he has brought all of his numbers up to .280/.345/.440. The impending return of Daulton Varsho might have made him worth trading.
This appears to be one of the better trades that the Blue Jays made as the deadline wound down.. The new roster pieces could prove to be crucial down the stretch as they look to play deep into October.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.