Toronto Blue Jays: Grading their trade deadline moves
Roberto Osuna
The deal:
This is the trade that created a lot of buzz and will now be a major talking point in Houston especially next week when Roberto Osuna is eligible to return from his suspension. In our breakdown of the trade, we go through each piece that the Blue Jays got in return.
If somebody told Blue Jays fans that Osuna would be traded to the reigning World Series champions and this would be the return, there might be some choice words for management.
What shouldn’t be forgotten in all of this is the fact that the Blue Jays were not in a position to leverage a massive return which Paul Taylor goes into more detail here. Sure, the 23-year-old is one of the top closers in the league and was expected to be an important part of the core.
Unfortunately, with his off-field issues, there was no way to see him being accepted by fans and it looks like the team made that clear with this trade. Hopefully, this sends a message to the fanbase and players what they think about situations like this and the role it plays in this organization.
Ken Giles will return to a closing role after being demoted to triple-A by the Astros and is expected to join the Blue Jays in Seattle. David Paulino was once a top-50 prospect in all of baseball but a run in with PEDs led to a decline and now he gets a restart in Toronto.
Then there’s Hector Perez who now becomes the 11th ranked prospect in the Blue Jays system. If he can continue to develop then the Blue Jays could have some options down the line but again, it’s too early to say whether either prospect can fulfill their potential.
In the end, the important thing was for the Blue Jays to sort out Osuna’s situation but also getting something in return makes this an easier trade to digest and a good opportunity to move on.