TORONTO – The considerations behind Tampa Bay Rays trades usually run several layers deep and the deal that sent shortstop Willy Adames to the Milwaukee Brewers for two relievers is noteworthy to the Toronto Blue Jays for several reasons.
Front-and-centre is that even though Taylor Walls was recalled to replace Adames rather than Wander Franco, there’s now a clear pathway to the majors for the game’s top prospect. Walls, a gifted defender, will in part help determine how distant Franco’s arrival is on the horizon, but the Blue Jays and rest of the American League East will soon have to contend with him.
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That’s intriguing with the division standings so congested, as is the return of right-handers J.P. Feyereisen, who has late-inning leverage upside and will join the big-league club, and Drew Rasmussen, whose upper-percentile whiff and velocity rates will begin at triple-A, for an established 25-year-old shortstop, albeit one with legit questions about his offensive profile.
Still, even if Adames’ value was beginning to slip, he and righty Trevor Richards seem like a steep price for a pair of big-stuff bullpen arms, and may very well be indicative of how costly it will be for pitching-needy teams like the Blue Jays to get impact arms before the trade deadline.
There was certainly an immediate need-for-need element to the deal, helping lead to a rare May trade of consequence. But it’s hard to shake the feeling that clubs selling pitching this summer are positioned to enjoy Toronto-real-estate style bidding wars for their arms.
To that end, the more the Blue Jays can steady their rotation from within, the less they’ll have to dig into their stash of prospects to acquire the minimum one starter they need. Alek Manoah is top of mind right now, Thomas Hatch is building towards a return and Nate Pearson is going to factor, but Anthony Kay is very much in that mix, too.
The left-hander tantalized again in Friday’s 9-7 loss to the Rays settled on Francisco Mejia’s 12th-inning grand slam, at times looking overpowering over four innings of two-run ball, at times losing the zone and running up his pitch count.
Kay allowed four hits, walked four and struck out four while throwing 91 pitches, 53 of them fastballs, only two of them generating a whiff despite sitting 94.7 m.p.h. and topping out at 97.1.
“The velocity seems to be pretty good, but like everybody else, it’s still a matter of executing pitches late, not trying to overthrow,” pitching coach Pete Walker said earlier this week. “We’re still trying to refine his stuff and where he’s throwing his stuff. But I still think he’s a viable option as a major-league starter. I think he’s still got a bright future as a major-league starter. I know he’s scuffled at times this year. But between losing last year in a way and not really getting into a normal routine, I still think there’s a lot of upside there and I still think he’s going to help us out in that rotation.”
Plenty of runway remains for the Blue Jays to figure that out before the trade deadline and with several players building toward returns from long-term injuries, a much smaller trade made by the Rays on May 15 offers an interesting blueprint.
That day, they sent out-of-options reliever Hunter Strickland to the Los Angeles Angels for a player to be named or cash, getting something back for someone they had to clear off the roster to make room for Ji-Man Choi’s return from injury.
Hatch, fellow right-handers Julian Merryweather, David Phelps and Patrick Murphy, and catcher Alejandro Kirk are all on the 60-day injured list and when they’re ready to come back, the Blue Jays will have to clear space on both the 26-man big-league roster, and the 40-man roster.
The depth they’ve leaned on to overcome the spate of injuries to dog them this season will be threatened at that point, and they’d do well to housekeep their 40-man roster.
Another chance to do that looms at the trade deadline, and worth watching is how they handle some of their prospects who will be Rule 5 eligible for the first time this fall, infielders Miguel Hiraldo and Leo Jimenez and righty Eric Pardinho prime among them.
The Rays, already, have flashed their trademark ability to be clever and calculated. For the Blue Jays, the time and opportunity to be just as cunning is coming.
