After months of speculation and interest from multiple teams, the Diamondbacks finally traded one of their left-handed hitting outfielders and the Blue Jays finally moved one of their catchers. The two clubs joined forces on Friday’s three-player deal that saw outfielder Daulton Varsho head to Toronto in exchange for catcher Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr., in a trade that checks several boxes for both organizations.
Given how the D’Backs and Jays’ needs dovetailed so neatly, it isn’t a surprise that Toronto GM Ross Atkins said it was “from the very beginning of the off-season that dialogue began” between the two sides.
“It absolutely was a great fit with their surplus of outfielders, specifically left-handed hitting centre fielders and us having a surplus of catching and their need,” Atkins told reporters, including TSN’s Scott Mitchell. “Right from the start, we felt that was going to be a very important team and fit.”
The Blue Jays entered the winter with Moreno, Alejandro Kirk, and Danny Jansen all lined up as options behind the plate, with Moreno (one of the game’s best prospects) looking ready for an extended audition after making his MLB debut with 25 games played in 2022. While Varsho has only 283 MLB games on his resume, he was actually the most experienced of Arizona’s outfield core — Corbin Carroll and Alek Thomas both made their big league debuts in 2022, and Jake McCarthy has appeared in 123 games for the Diamondbacks over the last two seasons.
Varsho’s longer track record seemingly made him the most sought-after player by interested teams, especially since the D’Backs made Carroll (another elite prospect) all but untouchable in trade negotiations. With the Diamondbacks intent on adding “impact in this trade,” according to Arizona general manager Mike Hazen, that need couldn’t be met just by shopping Thomas or McCarthy.
“I think there was more certainty — and clearly, we have it, too — with Daulton’s performance to this point in his career, and probably rightly so, that teams were willing to pay more for that. I don’t know that we were ever going to cross that divide otherwise,” Hazen told the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro and other reporters.
Such teams as the Yankees, Reds, White Sox, Athletics, Astros, Brewers, and Marlins were also linked to the Diamondbacks’ outfielders on the rumor mill, as both contenders and rebuilding teams alike had interest in Arizona’s mix of controllable young players. Likewise, Toronto got lots of calls about its catchers, but reports suggested that the Blue Jays first wanted to wait and see where some other catchers on the free agent and trade market landed. Once the Braves acquired Sean Murphy from Oakland and once Willson Contreras (Cardinals) and Christian Vazquez (Twins) signed, the road was then a little more clear for the D’Backs and Jays to align on a trade.
Even then, Atkins said that finding a match was tricky since “all three catchers were of some interest to them and all of their outfielders were of some interest to us. The component that made it challenging is that we were both trying to consolidate more talent on our Major League roster. They are looking to take steps forward obviously and push the envelope on the winning front and that’s why Lourdes Gurriel came into the picture and made this deal work.”
Gurriel’s inclusion gives the D’Backs a veteran but not old (Gurriel is entering his age-29) outfield presence to join with Carroll, McCarthy, Thomas, and former AL Rookie Of The Year Kyle Lewis, who was acquired in another trade with the Mariners earlier this winter. “I’m hoping the contact, the on-base, the ability to hit, the two-strike approach, is going to lend itself to making our lineup even tougher to face with the way some of those kids are going to be running around the bases the way they did last year,” Hazen said. “I feel like a lot of that dynamic offense has a chance to be enhanced.”
The trade with the Jays and Mariners represent Arizona’s biggest moves of the winter, as the D’Backs have otherwise mostly focused on their bullpen with relatively lower-tier moves like the signings of Miguel Castro and Scott McGough. Friday also saw the D’Backs complete another trade, bringing Diego Castillo from the Pirates to add more infield depth to the mix.
With Arizona still trying to finds its footing after three straight losing seasons, the Blue Jays are in a different position as a club intending to compete for a World Series in 2023. After a disappointing collapse against Seattle in the Wild Card Series, the Jays have been aggressive in signing right-hander Chris Bassitt to a three-year, $63MM deal, signing Kevin Kiermaier to a one-year contract, and trading Teoscar Hernandez to the Mariners for Erik Swanson and prospect Adam Macko.
Now that the Jays finally pulled the trigger on a catcher trade, Atkins said “I think our heavy lifting is done” for the rest of the offseason, though the front office is “certainly not ruling anything out and would expect some incremental improvements.” Varsho and Kiermaier are both left-handed hitters, and thus the Blue Jays will “look to improve our team from the subtraction of Gurriel, but in our view it doesn’t need to be right-handed or left-handed, it’s more about the impact and the fit beyond that.”
Seemed to me like a 50/50 trade. Win / win, logical for both sides.
Looks like most posters share my conclusions gbs42, does making you a “TR” make your sarcasm work?
Nice insights into the process that made this trade work. Thanks for putting this post together.
Great trade for both teams. I’m not a D-backs fan but root for the little guys. LA and San Diego better keep spending. AZ is building a really good team if 60% of their young player work out. Not much better than talent beating money in this game. Just need one or two more young starters AZ.
Love the deals for the D’Backs. Toronto really needed a CF so they paid the acquisition cost.
Left fielder
Varsho is
Going to play a lot of Cf.
Kiermaier staying healthy for a whole season is highly unlikely.
If Not-Kiermaier Kiermaiers better than Kiermaier, Kiermaier should let Not-Kiermaier Kiermaier.
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
It might not be true, but it’s a legitimate sentence.
I’ll explain, since it looks like the joke went over your head; sometimes, when someone is so good at something, their name becomes synonymous with that action. In this case, it’s using Kiermaier instead of “defending CF”. Not-Kiermaier is exactly that, a player other than Kiermaier.
So we get what essentially amounts to, “If a player fields CF better than Kiermaier, Kiermaier should let that player field CF”. Both follow proper sentence structure; the Buffalo chain had no structure.
As you’ve demonstrated, this sentence requires translation as your pseudo algebraic terminology is not common parlance. You can’t expact anybody to read an equation without them first knowing the formula. That said, I applaud you for being so logically inventive.
For the people that understood without explanation, it was much more humorous than the dry “translation”; those people were the target audience.
I generally hate explaining jokes, but him comparing it to nonsense indicated legitimate confusion; I just wanted to clue him in on the joke for that reason. Not everybody will get every joke, but maybe it’s not the best idea to try to get smart about something that clearly wasn’t understood…
I mean it with all due respect to everyone, but using context clues is part of critical thinking and critical thinking is part of humor; I personally find things more amusing when I’m not being spoon-fed every detail (hence the reason for that sentence).
I’m fine with people not enjoying the joke, but arguing against the logic of a joke that only works because it’s based around logic? I’ll be that guy for that reason lol.
Hope y’all have Happy Holidays regardless!
Indubitably
Happy for both teams. I have a feeling Varsho might eventually be hitting as high as #2
Hopefully Moreno becomes the C of the future in AZ.
He’s a .230 career hitter, so unlikely.
Yea I forgot young players who are adjusting to new positions never get better at the plate ever. Everyone who’s ever played 1 full year knows you’ll repeat the exact same stat line for 7 years then drop off considerably every time.
Boy do I feel stupid. Thanks for making me logically think that through
Phew. No need to buy tickets or a Jersey anymore
Jays are well run. I like the timing of this deal – good things going on in Toronto.
I like this trade for Toronto in a vacuum, but I’m still scratching my head at the Teoscar Hernandez move last month and wonder if their lineup has actually lost a little thump over the course of this offseason. The right-handed depth they had with Gurriel and Hernandez in tandem was part of what made that 22 team so scary. Varsho should give them some of that speed up the middle they’ve been looking for, though.
This is a reasonable take, honestly. If they complete the Arizona trade first would they have dealt Teo? I’m not 100% certain. On the other hand, it’s plausible that Teoscar’s best days are past and he’s a 2ish WAR DH from here out and those aren’t hard to find.
I feel like the BJ’s org thinks they sold high on TH and bought low on KL. Swap out LG for KK and plug the super sprocket DV into CF and you get a whole bunch of acronyms.
I understood most of that, but who is the ‘KL’ that they bought low on?
Kyle Lewis from Seattle
Who’s KL?
Kevin Lossman I suppose. Guy’s smokin somethin.
I thought Kyle Lewis was traded to the Diamondbacks?
Looks like they jumped the gun a little on the Teoscar trade and got a light return. Atkins never seems to “win” trades initially but works out in the end. They certainly downgraded outfield offense in exchange for elite defense.
Varsho and Kiermeyer had more thump than Teo and Gurriel last year
Kiermaier and the word thump is rarely used in the same sentence.
I like the Teoscar trade cause a lockdown bullpen is key to post season success. This one confused me more, feels like Moreno should have been enough for him and Gurriel could have been moved for another bullpen arm.
The idea is to sacrifice all the 12-4 wins in favor of more 2-1 wins. The runs scored minus runs allowed is going to be worse next season, but the record could still be better for it, we’ll see.
Teo was improved in the outfield, but still had his share of times he’d make a pitcher cringe. And they need to move Springer to right.
The Jays will be top 5 in runs scored next season.
They definitely sacrificed offense in order to upgrade the defense and bullpen. I think they are more than capable of making that trade off though with who is still around.
I think the trade was made because Teo only has one year left,while Swanson has 4 years remaining, and while our offense is still gonna be potent..our pen needed a upgrade,which we got
Teo was on the last year of his contract. Teams can’t afford to pay everyone top dollars so I respect the Jays management for getting value before they reach free agency. Otherwise they get a qualifying offer and draft picks which don’t really help a team in win now mode. Kudos for the Jays doing the right thing and getting some longer term value out of the situation.
It is the years and the commitment as much as the type of player. Yeah we got the idea!
Teo is inconsistent at the plate and inconsistent in the field. Gurriel hits for average but has lost his pop. He is, at best an average left fielder who wasn’t going to be renewed for 2024. Varsho is all upside. If he but remains an elite defender and gives us 25-30 home runs, he’s an upgrade. If, at 26, he gets better, Atkins is a genius.
Money… that is why Teoscar is gone…
If they were the Mets they could just spend and then out spend their mistakes but they ain’t
I think they lost a little power maybe. I really liked Teo however him and Lordes did look lost sometimes in the out field. It will be nice to have good to great out field defence to go along with a little more speed.
There’s still a glaring need for a 4th outfielder and an incredibly strong fit is Jurickson Profar.
Robbie Grossman fits even better to pair with the lefties in the OF now. That’s the play. That’s how Ross rounds out the bats
Robbie Grossman fits even better with the lefties in the OF. That’s how Ross should round out his bats
I’d rather Pollack to come off the bench
Don’t forget Whit Merrifield is a hell of a 4th OF already.
I would expect a lot of Merrifield in RF and Springer at DH, at least against Right Handers
What about Nathan Lukes? Isn’t he still on the 40-man?
Yes, albeit unproven but still worth a shot of course
You’ve got Merrifield and Biggio as 4th OFers.
Team has a versatile lineup and can be mixed and matched positionally and in the batting order
I’m thinking that Gurriel is a prime change of scenery bounce back candidate, and Moreno has the highest upside of the 3 catchers. Varsho answers a need for Toronto, but the Snakes could come out well ahead on this trade when looked back on 4-5 years from now.
Gurriel didn’t need a change of scenery, he just needed wrist surgery.
And he’s a FA in a year.
I wonder If the Cubs had offer Ian Happ to the Bluejays. If they did and turn It down. Then It there mistake.
Not many times do you get a chance to get 30 Hr 100 RBI and also a gold glove winner In a deal.
Happ only has left two more seasons with ChC
Plus he isn’t a center fielder.while the Jays offense may be a touch weaker..they now have one of if not the best fielding outfields in all of MLB. The only thing that concerns me is that KK and Springer are usually missing anywhere from 30-100+ games/year. They still might need one more outfielder
Happ has done one of those three.
And it wasn’t one with his bat.
I like this trade for both teams. This is a good baseball trade
The Blue Jays have addressed their outfield and yes, they need one more outfielder with upside. On the pitching side, they addressed the bullpen, but if they go into 2023 with White and Yusil as their fifth starter, they are doomed to failure. White showed last year that he is a liability, not an asset as a starting pitcher and perhaps that changes after another year at triple A, but the team doesn’t have the option to roll the dice on a disaster every five days, forcing them to go with a four-man rotation. Sign Cueto or Eovaldi as the fifth starter and that drops White and Yusil into the bullpen or triple A to be used when the need arises. The Jays need pitchers that give the team a chance to win every game, not just three or four of five each time through the rotation. The team either wants to win or they don’t. The nucleus is now set, finish the job so the team is built for success.
I still think Pearson is an option for the #5 slot.
Pearson has a little over 200 IP spread over six seasons in the minors/majors including only 15 IP last year. I think the starter ship has sailed.
I really like this deal from the DBacks end, because they were expecting to contend in ’24 at the earliest.
They can use ’23 to give Carroll, Henry, Jameson, McCarthy, Moreno, Nelson, Perdomo, Pfaadt, Rivera, Thomas, and Vargas the opportunity to settle in at the MLB level (possibly Lawlar and Walston late season, as well). Most of which don’t even have a year of service time accrued (or barely over it in Perdomo’s and Rivera’s cases), yet the DBacks are sitting near a .500 projection.
At the end of the season Ahmed, Gurriel Jr, and Melancon becoming FAs along with Bumgarner’s pay dropping will free up $30+MM in salary; with the majority of the lineup spots accounted for long term, they have the option to spend a bit in FA when that finally does happen (whether Hazen will have the greenlight or not is another story).
Exciting times coming to AZ with Hazen at the helm.
First time in so long to be excited as a D’Backs fan
I’m still of the belief that if they had had a real bullpen last season, they could have been a wildcard team. Just look at how many games they lost through their relievers.
I really believe that they have a great chance this upcoming season to make the postseason. I’m excited to see how it pans out.
I definitely think they would’ve been closer to the periphery of playoff contention with a better bullpen, but ultimately they didn’t have the pitching depth to make much noise and they would’ve absolutely been carved up by the best LHPs.
Now the LHP lineup is going to consist of: Kelly, Moreno, Walker, Marte, Rivera, Ahmed, Gurriel, McCarthy, and Lewis, with McCarthy being the only LHH (and he was platoon neutral last season).
Perdomo, Smith/Thomas, Carroll, and Rojas are the most likely to be PH for out of the RHP lineup (quite possibly in that order of likelihood), so stacking those guys in the order gives Torey the opportunity to throw “The Wave” of PHs at the opposition that Kapler was doing last season. Let them do some soul-searching before they throw a LHRP out there.
Between Mantiply, Castro, McGough, Ginkel, Melancon(haha), and (eventually) Vargas there has to be at least one quality CP candidate in there. If that doesn’t happen, multiple SU quality pitchers wouldn’t be a terrible outcome; there’s still some depth from which to deal for a better option. That’s without mentioning the multiple 3/4/5 SP options that are significantly better than last season.
The fanatic in me sees enough to have a shot at the Postseason as well (obviously with more positive developments than negative ones); the line after the Varsho deal shifted to +5000 for the DBacks to make the World Series, and I’m thinking that’s way too enticing with all of the recent improvements.
Jays are in trouble this is the ALE you need to score runs and you got rid of Teo and Tapia who gave you 129 rbis then traded a career 288 hitter for an elite defensive guy who is terrible at getting on base but does hit HR. Also Relying onan old coming off of hip surgery KK has got to be one of the biggest slap in the faces to a team who is supposed to be going for a playoff spot.
@firegibby, Varsho is a catcher converted to a CF because of his athleticism and he was very focused on defense and proving he could play CF – which he did, no doubt. I think on the days he played CF he lost some focus at the plate. His OBP as a catcher was .341 tOPS+ 116 and sOPS+ 140. I think you will see Varsho put up numbers in line with his 2022 catcher numbers in 2023 now that he can relax and just play.
I don’t like the trade for Toronto but the fact you brought tapia up means your argument is void. Both KK and Varsho are the same or better than tapia offensively and tapia is awful defensively. However Teoscar and Gurriel are much better offensively than people on here seem to realize. Both had injuries last year so a bit of a down year, but their loss will absolutely be felt.
varsho is definitely a nice fit as a hitter on this team, and jansen and kirk will hopefully thrive as they did last year without having to worry about the three man catching situation. not only was springer not fit for center field last year, teo and lo were hardly the complements to help that defense play up
Great trade for both sides, I love every part of it for the Jays but please go get a really solid 4th outfielder before Kiermaier gets hurt sweeping the driveway or walking his dog.
Already have Merrifield.
I’m kinda tired of people suggesting his name for full time outfield duty. His bat doesn’t play in a corner spot and he’s a better infielder. They need a 4th.
Varsho’s numbers will improve in Toronto. With Arizona, the only big bats were Varsho and Walker. Varsho can play center when Kiermaier is out. Moreno was a huge price but Varsho is really, really good.
I don’t see anyone talking about control. Both Teo and Gurriel are free agents next offseason. DV has four more years of control, plays better defense than either. Hell if the Jays want, they can just go sign them both back next offseason. Pretty sure they’ll be happy with these moves though.
Moreno has even more control
I always throught dalton was somewhat underappreciated and underrated, but I also believe that Lourdes and moreno was a bit much. We will see where this goes this season.
If they can sign a 4a outfielder that can come up when Kiermier and Springer inevitably get hurt i think that would be the play…maybe jbj comes to buffalo?
For the remaining hitting roster spots, if The reds are all but a combined 10 million, could we take on Moustakas and Votto for the bench?
Vlad day can’t play every day and Gurriel got some 1b reps.
You can have Moustakas for league minimum once he hits free agency shortly. Or sign Hosmer.
Votto has stated several times before he wants to retire a Red and won’t waive his no-trade clause, even to go home
They have another OF already with Merrifield.
Why cant vladdy play everyday? The guy loves being out there and is resilient. He’s missed 3 games in the last 3 seasons.
Votto doesnt want to sit on the bench.
You do realize Moose and Votto take up roster slots eh?
Merrified and Biggio can play the corners.
And are probably more productive at this point
I wonder if the DBs would of taken kirk over Moreno?
I know many people love Kirk’s bat, but I question his longevity with that body type.
Same goes with Vlady. Vlady seems like he is the next prince fielder. I hope the Jays don’t sign him to a long term deal. Rather have Bo on a long term deal since he takes care of his body like a professional athlete is suppose to do.
Probably not. Moreno has the highest value for sure and they had to throw in gurriel.
I think the DBacks will benefit from having Lourdes Gurriel Jr. He destroys the Sox all the time and is a good hitter that is underrated.
I agree with what highheat wrote above, the Dbacks future looks bright. Dbacks made a 22 win improvement 2022 vs 2021. With this trade and improvement from some or most of the young OF and SP, the Dbacks should make another 10-15 win improvement 2023 vs 2022..
This is far from a perfect Dbacks 2023 team. The bullpen has been rebuilt with only 4 returnees. The big question with all the volatility associated with bullpen arms, is will this rebuilt bullpen be any better than the old one? And will a reliable Closer emerge?
Hazen has successfully corrected the extreme team weakness/vulnerability to lefthanded pitching. These were the two glaring team flaws.
In 2023, the entire team needs more experience and needs to grow more competitive against the elite teams in the NLW (Dodgers and Padres). If enough of these young players develop, the team will be competing for the postseason for the next 5-6 years.
Moreno is a major stud, incredibly athletic, Blue Jays got fleeced
Atkins should have gotten more though. Imagine starting Christmas season with losing a fan-favourite plus your top-prospect and getting back some dude that you’ve never heard of that bats .230
At least a prospect back or a reliever would have been less of an F you to the fans.