Toronto Blue Jays: Russell Martin trade closes book on eventful era

With Martin being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Toronto Blue Jays have closed the book on an era that would have been tough to sustain.

It might not have been clear at the beginning but since Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins were brought on board their main objective has been working towards a remodel of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Russell Martin‘s trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers signalled the end of the teardown of a veteran clubhouse that brought back life into the city as a baseball town. While there is still fragments of that team left, the core of the lineup is gone with the team paying a big price to let it go.

This all started with letting Edwin Encarnacion leave in free agency, along with Jose Bautista then buying out the rest of Troy Tulowitzki‘s deal. The toughest decision had to be Josh Donaldson. Trading the 2015 American MVP was not a decision the team took lightly but there never seemed to be a strong push to keep him around.

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Fortunately for the Bue Jays, Donaldson’s injury-riddled season showed the team was going to be taking a bigger risk trying to sign the third baseman to a long-term deal. Instead, they decided to cut bait and trade Donaldson who took a one-year deal with the Atlanta Braves reuniting with Alex Anthopoulos.

It was the former Blue Jays GM that was the architect of the Blue Jays run in 2015 and 2016 but what he built was not sustainable. This was the reality fans didn’t want to accept because of the success the team was having as World Series contenders.

Now Shapiro and Atkins have the tough job of building the team back up and it makes it easier knowing they have a group of quality young prospects led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who should figure into the team’s plans this upcoming season.

While there is no timetable for when the team can get back into a competitive window, they are willing to bet on their plan. Considering the money being paid by Toronto to see Martin and Tulowitzki play for other teams should show their commitment towards their youth.

Going with a younger team means the Blue Jays won’t have major salary commitments for the next couple of seasons which is why they can afford to pay out their veteran players who were not performing or unreliable because of injury.

Expect the Blue Jays to make more moves to fill out their rosters and while they might not be exciting additions, it is a transition which will hopefully bring better times down the road.

Toronto fans should appreciate what these players brought to the table but now it is time to leave that in the past and build towards something that they can hopefully sustain for more than two seasons.

What do you think about the Martin trade? Are you on board with the Blue Jays plan down the road? Let us know in the comments below.