PHOENIX – Last fall, long after the Blue Jays had been eliminated from the post-season, Daulton Varsho followed from afar as his previous team played in the World Series. He was happy for his Diamondbacks teammates, the guys he’d played with in the minors, but it wasn’t easy to be removed from it all either.
“Obviously it kind of sucked,” Varsho recalled.
It didn’t help that Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., the players for whom he was traded, both played key roles for that Diamondbacks team. A year later, though, Varsho said he’s not putting pressure on himself to make good on the trade.
“I did that a lot last year,” Varsho said. “This year’s been a little different. I’m trying to get back to who I am. Knowing that I’m Daulton, and Daulton’s good enough.”
Playing at Chase Field on Friday for the first time since being traded to Toronto, it was Varsho’s chance to remind the Diamondbacks what they’re missing. He hit a leadoff triple to give the Blue Jays a late lead, and the visitors seemed to be headed for a grind-it-out win, but the Blue Jays’ bullpen blew yet another lead and the Diamondbacks won 5-4.
Now, none of this is an attempt to re-litigate a trade the Diamondbacks have clear reason to be thrilled with. But coming back to Chase Field means something to Varsho, who played here for three seasons before the Blue Jays acquired him in December 2022. He had an outside chance to throw Corbin Carroll out at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but Carroll scored on a sacrifice fly, giving the Diamondbacks a walk-off win.
It was Chad Green who gave up the deciding run, but Trevor Richards allowed two runs in the eighth, allowing Arizona to tie the score.
Yariel Rodriguez started the game for the Blue Jays, offering four innings of two-run baseball while striking out seven. But with an inflated pitch count of 82 through four innings, the Blue Jays went to the bullpen. The decision was understandable, but the results were poor, as has often been the case for this bullpen.
Even before first pitch, though, there was a significant development for the Blue Jays. Kevin Kiermaier had been on waivers earlier in the week, meaning any team could have claimed him for only the cost of his remaining salary – approximately $4 million at this point in the season.
But he cleared, meaning no team valued him at that cost, and now he remains with a Blue Jays team that was prepared to see him leave for nothing.
“I’m not pissed,” Kiermaier said. “I totally get it. It’s different in the sense that they were willing to give me away, but they want to keep me around. That’s the weird part.”
The Blue Jays could still trade Kiermaier, and some still see that as the most likely outcome here if the Blue Jays are willing to eat some money. But in the meantime, it’s status quo for Kiermaier, who started in centre field for the Blue Jays again Friday.
“We’re going to treat him no differently,” said manager John Schneider. “It’s a business (and) transaction part of the game. The fact that he gets that is (the) most important part of that. Now we’ve just got to go out and focus on playing. And Kev’s overcome stuff his whole career.”
Of course, the Blue Jays’ decision to put Kiermaier on waivers also acknowledges to other teams that their off-season plan isn’t working as intended. It’s not quite an open-for-business sign, but it’s the clearest sign yet that the Blue Jays are willing to listen on players whose contracts expire after the season.
“I understand why,” Kiermaier said. “These things happen and it’s because my play has not been where it needs to be. I totally understand that.”
“It’s just a weird situation overall,” he continued. “But whatever happens from here on out I’m very proud of how my career has gone. It’s been such an amazing journey. And even still, here in this situation, I don’t know what’s going to come of it, but the unknown’s always been exciting for me.”
