Whit and Without

 

Last trade deadline, the Toronto Blue Jays confused dozens by trading for a veteran middle-infielder who they only intended on using as a depth piece for the stretch. He was alright.

This trade deadline, the Toronto Blue Jays confused dozens by trading for a veteran middle-infielder who they only intended on using as a depth piece for the stretch. He's currently hitting under .100. But the guy they got last deadline's doing great.

And that really sums up the Blue Jays' mindset in recent years. They go in with a solid idea of how things are gonna go, and then as things completely backfire they somehow back into an even better solution to go ahead with. Last year, the Jays were sort of emphasizing Santiago Espinal at 2nd base, and while they thought they'd be going with him as starter for the future, Whit Merrifield outdid their expectations and landed the starting role. A year or so ago, they were set on Jansen and Collins behind the plate, then in came Alejandro Kirk to lap both of them. This year, the Jays really thought they'd be coasting for years with Alek Manoah, he skids out and Hyun-Jin Ryu returns right when they need him the most. 

The Blue Jays, even without palpable postseason success, have been so good at falling backwards into great developments. Whit Merrifield may be one of their happiest accidents.

A lot of these guys, you can see they knew what they were doing. Bringing in Varsho and Kiermaier, that ups the defense in the outfield. Bringing in Chris Bassitt, there's an innings-eater you don't need to worry about. Merrifield coming on board, you can see why they did it, it just wasn't the best timing last year because Espinal was still the better option. Now that the position's basically his, Merrifield is .297 with 122 hits and 21 steals, in addition to 55 RBIs. This is the kind of stuff Royals fans adored him for, and he's just as valued for it in Toronto, especially as Bichette is hurt and Guerrero's having a spottier year. This is what they hoped for when they traded for him, it's just more of a long game plan.

Now do they have something similar planned for Paul deJong? I...have no idea. Probably not, because they just needed him to fill SS while Bichette's gone. Yet at the same time, Espinal can do that, and has been doing better than deJong. So maybe they backed into that solution as well.

The Jays are doing everything they should be doing, and still have a nice shot at keeping a wild card spot. If they continue at this pace, they'll be fine. Hopefully the absence of Bo Bichette doesn't sink them too much, but at least they're not looking for a new shortstop indefinitely because the one they signed for the next decade turned out to be a sexual predator or anything. 

Coming Tomorrow- An excellent pitcher I am currently mad at.