Trade Deadline: Jays Tulo Deal May Have Phillies Ramifications
The Phillies will open a quick two game series tonight in Toronto that couldn’t have come at a better time as far as MLB trade deadline speculation is concerned.
It was revealed overnight that the Jays consummated a deal with the Colorado Rockies to land the consensus best shortstop in all of baseball (when healthy), Troy Tulowitzki.
The full details of the trade have Tulo and veteran reliever LaTroy Hawkins headed to Colorado in exchange for pitching prospects Miguel Castro, Jeff Hoffman, and Jesus Tinoco.
So what does any of that mean to the Phillies? Possibly a great deal. First, it shows clearly that the Jays are pushing their chips all-in for a true move towards the top of the AL East and the postseason. But the fact remains, even with this big splash, Toronto still has not addressed its two most glaring needs.
The Blue Jays were already one of the top offensive teams in the game prior to this deal, so swapping out Tulowitzki for Reyes only increases their offensive firepower marginally, if at all. It swaps out speed for power. But it does nothing at all to address their shortage of pitching, which has held them back in the standings to this point.
Getting Hawkins is a nice piece for a bullpen that needed it. He has registered 126 Saves in his career, including 23 last year with the Rockies. But at 42 years of age and rumored to be retiring after this season, he is more of a setup man than a closer at this point.
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The Jays have been previously linked to Papelbon. Back in June, the Jays were reportedly scouting the Phils’ closer heavily. Putting Paps at the back of a Toronto bullpen with Hawkins and young Roberto Osuna setting him up would give Toronto a strong group down the stretch as they try to chase down the Yankees.
Just two days ago, MLB insider Jon Heyman reported that the “Blue Jays and Nationals are seen as the two most likely destinations” in a Papelbon deal, while also listing the Cubs as having gotten involved.
Would the Jays have enough left to get a deal done, enough to entice the Phillies, after sending away two of their top pitching prospects? Certainly they do, especially considering that the Phils have already stated they would be willing to eat some or all of the contract in return for the right piece.
19-year old pitching prospect Sean Reid-Foley would be a nice return, though getting an arm of that quality would likely require the Phils to pickup the full contract option value for Papelbon. 21-year old lefty Matt Smoral might come at the cost of picking up just a part of the contract. Emerging 21-year old outfielder Anthony Alford would make for an interesting speculative return piece.
The point is, there are still plenty of pieces in the Toronto system that could and should interest a Phillies organization that should absolutely be highly motivated to move Papelbon in the next few days.
The Jays have now shown they are ready to deal. They still have more to do, and with the Phillies coming to town for two days, now may be the perfect time to get this deal done.