Toronto Blue Jays: Seunghwan Oh delivers decent trade return

The Toronto Blue Jays were able to swing a deal with Seunghwan Oh with the Colorado Rockies getting top-ranked prospects in return for the reliever.

There has been a lot of pressure on the Toronto Blue Jays to accumulate as many assets as possible ahead of the none-waiver trade deadline. With all the eyes on where J.A. Happ will go, Seunghwan Oh was the latest teammate to be moved.

The Blue Jays traded the South Korean reliever to the Colorado Rockies and back to the National League where he spent the past couple of seasons before joining Toronto.

In return, the Rockies are sending minor-league first baseman Chad Spanberger, outfielder Forrest Wall and a player to be named later or cash.

So why should Blue Jays fans like this deal? The team got Oh at a reasonable deal back in February and since then he’s been a consistent producer in late-inning situations.

Because of that, he’s been able to bring something tangible in return after some of the Blue Jays’ potential trade chips have either underperformed or gotten injured.

Here’s a scouting report that Keegan Matheson of Baseball Toronto provided for Spanberger.

"Over 151 career minor-league games between low-A and single-A, Spanberger 41 home runs, 35 doubles, and 126 RBI.Spanberger’s strikeout and walk rates aren’t ideal, and he’s a bit old for the single-A level as a 22-year-old college pick. One evaluator described Spanberger to Baseball Toronto as a “hard contact machine when he makes contact,” which fits in line with many of this front office’s recent acquisitions.He’s also described as a righty masher, which is a kind way to frame the fact that left-handed pitching could be an issue for him as he advances through the levels. He holds a 1.056 OPS against righties this season, but that power hasn’t been there against lefties (.712 OPS)."

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Spanberger, the Rockies 24th ranked prospect was selected in the sixth round of the 2017 MLB draft and the worst case scenario is that he ends up being a platoon option for the Blue Jays where he hits mostly against right-handed pitching.

Wall was the Rockies 13th ranked prospect who was moved from second base to the outfield. MLB pipeline notes that he was rated tops in his draft class in hitting and speed. Unfortunately, that hasn’t translated to the level the Rockies expected when they drafted him.

Injuries have been an issue for him but still has great speed, unfortunately, he still has work to do offensively but it’ll take time after having to recover from shoulder surgery. What will help him excel is working on his contact and utilizing his speed to be a problem on the base path.

Any type of return that gives the Blue Jays something promising like this deal is a win for them. While neither player is a top-10 prospect it would’ve been tough to expect Toronto to get that.

That’s what they could’ve gotten for Josh Donaldson if he was healthy and maybe there’s a chance that Happ can get that with the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers reportedly interested in the starter.

Next. Teams inquiring about Marcus Stroman. dark

What do you think about the Blue Jays return for Oh? What else would you like to do before the trade deadline? Let us know in the comments below.

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