The Blue Jays landed one of the most sought-after bullpen arms on the trade market Sunday, announcing the acquisition of righty Jordan Hicks from the Cardinals in exchange for Double-A right-handers Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein. In a corresponding roster move, Toronto designated righty Mitch White for assignment. Hicks had previously been reported to be discussing an extension with the Cardinals ahead of the trade deadline on August 1, though those discussions seemingly stalled out earlier in the week.
Hicks, 26, was a third-round pick in the 2015 draft by the Cardinals. He made his big league debut back in 2018 and threw 77 2/3 innings in his first big league season, with a 3.59 ERA and 3.74 FIP. While he generated an impressive 60.7% groundball rate in his rookie campaign, he posted a lackluster 20.6% strikeout rate and struggled badly with his control to the point of walking 13.3% of batters faced. Early on in his sophomore 2019 season, Hicks required Tommy John surgery. That surgery began a series of injuries and setbacks that would limit him to just 38 2/3 innings of work from 2019-21.
Finally fully healthy in 2022, the Cardinals decided to try using Hicks as a member of the rotation. That experiment did not go well, as Hicks posted a 5.84 ERA and 5.54 FIP in 24 2/3 innings of work across seven starts while walking a whopping 16% of batters faced over that stretch. While he pitched a bit better upon returning to the bullpen, he nonetheless finished the 2022 campaign with 4.84 ERA and 13.3% walk rate in 61 1/3 innings of work.
The 2023 campaign started off difficultly for Hicks once again, as he yielded a whopping nine runs (eight earned) in just 5 2/3 innings of work in his first seven appearances of the year. Since then, however, he’s settled in as one of the most dominant relievers in baseball over the past few months. Since April 18, Hicks sports a 2.25 ERA and a sterling 1.92 FIP in 36 innings of work. He’s cut his walk rate to 10.4% in that time, a figure that, while somewhat elevated, is more than made up for by a phenomenal 34.4% strikeout rate. Hicks also sports a characteristically excellent 58.3% groundball rate this season, a figure that has led him to allow just two home runs all season, and none since he got his season back on track in mid-April.
Hicks’s dominant arm makes him a perfect candidate for Toronto’s bullpen, as the Blue Jays lost closer Jordan Romano to the 15-day injured list earlier this weekend thanks to lower back inflammation. While it’s possible Romano will return fairly quickly after the minimum 15-day stint, he’s been plagued by the issue since it caused him to depart the All Star game earlier this month. Still, it would hardly be a surprise to see the Blue Jays take additional time to ensure their closer is fully healthy upon his return given both the nagging nature of the issue and the importance of Romano, who leads the AL with 28 saves this season and sports a 2.79 ERA in 42 innings this season, to the club’s success.
In return for Hicks’s services, the Blue Jays are paying a hefty prospect toll. Robberse appears to be the headliner in the deal as the club’s seventh-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline and their sixth-best prospect according to Fangraphs. Originally signed out of the Netherlands back in 2019, the 21-year-old hurler sports a 92-94 mph fastball, quality secondary offerings in both a changeup and a slider, and plus command. In 113 1/3 innings of work at the Double-A level, Robberse owns a 3.97 ERA and a strikeout rate of 22%.
Kloffenstein, meanwhile, goes unranked on both Pipeline’s and Fangraphs’s lists. Fangraphs describes Kloffenstein as a pitcher with a four-pitch mix highlighted by a sinker and a slider, though it ultimately pegs him as more of an innings-eating, depth starter type. That evaluation, however, is from prior to the 2023 campaign, where Kloffenstein has impressed to this point. Toronto’s third-round pick in the 2018 draft has shoved across 89 innings of work at Double-A this season to the tune of a 3.24 ERA with a strikeout rate of 27.6%, a figure well above his career rate of 23.5% entering the 2023 campaign.
Both Kloffenstein and Robberse clearly fit the mold of return the Cardinals have reportedly been looking for in dangling their rental arms this summer: controllable, upper-level starting pitching prospects. Both Robberse and Kloffenstein project as starters going forward and have over 100 innings of experience at Double-A, with Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat noting that both hurlers are set to be promoted to Triple-A by the Cardinals organization. Given that promotion, it seems reasonable to assume both pitchers will be on the big league radar for sometime in 2024, barring injury or ineffectiveness changing the timeline.
The deal also spells the end of White’s time in Toronto. A second-round selection by the Dodgers in the 2016 draft, White impressed with a 3.44 ERA and 3.78 FIp in 49 2/3 innings of work across his first two seasons in the majors. He continued his success in a Dodgers uniform in 2022 with a 3.70 ERA and 3.95 FIP in 56 innings of work, but the club dealt White to Toronto at the trade deadline last season. Since joining the Blue Jays, White has struggled mightily, with a 7.60 ERA in 55 2/3 innings of work. While he posted a 4.03 FIP that far outstrips his results as a member of the Jays, his walk rate has ticked up to 11.7% this season, a level unlikely to be sustainable given his mediocre 21.7% strikeout rate. Going forward, Toronto will have one week to either waive or release White, assuming he himself isn’t traded before the deadline on August 1.
Craig Mish of the Miami Herald first reported that Hicks had been traded to Toronto. FanSided’s Robert Murray reported that Kloffenstein was part of the return. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet first reported Robberse’s inclusion in the deal.
Big pickup for the Jays. I think its either them or the Rangers that make it to the World Series out of the AL
Rangers are currently in the midst of a rash of injuries.
You spelled Astros wrong.
Haha, well played
@StephCurryRetiresWith8Rings I think the Rays are way over performing. Overall I don’t think they excell in a single category. Maybe defense? Their hitting is probably slightly above average. Their pitching and relief staff outside of McLanahan really doesnt do anything for me. If Eflin is your second starter, your in trouble. If they can pull off a trade with the Padres for a mix of Soto, Hader, and Snell, I’ll put them up their with the Jays and Rangers
Ya, it should be Asstros.
I’ll correct it, you spell Astros like this “Orioles”
Some people call them the Space Cowboys…
Some call them the jokers of baseball
Some say buzzatron on the jumbotron?
Cause they speak in trashcan lingo
People keep talking about them baby
Say someone’s instragram looks all wrong
But don’t worry about that mama
Manfred got a new plan to wash
People keep talking about them baby
Say Manfred done baseball wrong
Don’t worry baby cause Jose altuve
Is right here right here right here
Right here at home….
They were the only team punished for a league wide problem, but go on about how they are allowed to cheat. It also happened 5+ seasons ago. It is time to move on.
Except Glashow is their number 2. Mclanahan and Glasnow is a really good one two in playoffs.
That is the past. Weren’t the Yanks caught as well? Boston as well?
The Rays are 3rd in wRC+ and OPS+, and 4th in runs as a team. Their pitching staff as a whole is 3rd in ERA and their starting rotation is 2nd. If you want people to take your opinion seriously, it really, really helps for you to look this stuff up first before you comment. Its not hard to find and only takes a minute.
Steph, the Commissioner’s report says there were 9 other teams beyond the 3 you have named. 12 total. Those are the ones that were caught. It was league wide.
Stick with basketball lady
So did you. It’s Astroisks.
3 were penalized. Astros, Yankees, Red Sox. 12 total were caught.
Oh for crying out loud, get a new line. It was 6 years ago. And they got punished. Get over it.
That seems unlikely.
Yep. But Rangers are addressing it by adding Scherzer and Montgomery.
Cubs are back in it. Closer to contention than the 2021 Blue Jays. Buyers.
Aww, the myth of TG!
2-5 / 5.75 postseason stats.
O’s. It’s their year but few seem to accept that.
I disagree. There is a qualitative difference between cheating to win and being paid to lose.
Agreed
Cheating to win is much more forgivable.
@LFGMets – Tampa Bay has the 4th best ERA and 4th most runs scored in the Majors this year.
3rd best ERA as a whole. Starters are even better
Sorry, you rang?
No Jays, and probably no Rangers either. If I have to choose between the two. I’d go Texas. Nevertheless great pick up for Toronto. I wonder what they gave up though?
Imagine the Blue Jays make the world series. Joe Carter throws out the first pitch of game 6. And someone hits a walk off homerun to win the world series. 30 years later.
Thank you for making me relive that traumatic childhood memory
I could’ve mentioned that it could be vs. Philly. I did not. But you never know. Maybe it’ll be Mitch Williams throwing to Joe Carter for the first pitch of game 6.
Was this the dagger?
Someone has to loose… I’ve felt the same about watching Rick Ankiel in 2001… dude was sooooo good, then snap…. they compared him to Steve Carlton, Sandy Kofax
And then there was the 04 world series…
Only time I’ve ever felt more robbed as a fan is looking at John Mozeliak track record since trading for Marcell Ozuna and singing Brett Cicel?
Why loose? They can be tight?
Not everyone can be tight.
Someone has to be looser.
Beautiful memory
If robbery includes excellent trades like Goldschmidt, Arenado, Gallegos, and the deals for starting pitching at the last two deadlines that got the Cardinals into the playoffs those years, then sign me up to get robbed.
Those moves have more than made up for the few bad moves like the ones you mentioned, the Arozarena trade, and the last Carpenter extension. (Meanwhile, the jury is still out on the Contreras signing, but it should still wind up as a decent move at worst).
Bottom of 9th, tie game, 1 out, Merrifield on 3B. Atlanta brings in a LHP to face LHH Varsho, who bunts for a single up the 1B line — as he has done so many times before. — to win the series.
@LFGMets: Unless it’s Baltimore.
I really like the prospects that the Cards acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays.
How did we get better prospects for hicks then we did for Monty and Stratton? I’m honestly perplexed. So weird
Exactly. Toronto gave up more for a few weeks of Hicks than Texas did for the far better Montgomery and Stratton as well. I think the Toronto trade smells of desperation.
Both Cards returns were good and wins. Excellent work.
I guess the way is that different teams, websites, and people can value players differenty.
They got the 11th and 14th ranked prospects from the rangers who have a top third ranked system, and the 7th and an unranked prospect from a bottom third system from the Jays.
So no idea how they got a better package from Toronto
That’s a very bad way to try to compare
1) all ratings are subjective. So that just makes it difficult in general
2) but why not just look at something like fangraphs that puts a player grade on each other?
So Roby is fangraphs number 5 and a 50, Saggese is the fangraphs number 17 prospect with a 40+.
Kloffenstein doesn’t make the fangraphs too 42 for the jays and has a 40.
Robberse is the jays number 6 and a 45.
So both prospects from Texas are ranked higher than kloffenstein.
So even with his 40 ranking, fangraphs doesn’t believe he is even a top 40 prospect in the jays system.
Weird how one is subjective and the other isn’t. But keep telling yourself whatever you want, you are just wrong
Yeah. Stay away from Fangraphs. Both BA and MLB Pipeline are better resources.
Kloffenstein is a top 30. Top 20 for me. If any ranking site was even halfway decent I wouldn’t have to watch milb, talk to scouts or even look at stats.
Yet not a single site has him in the Jays top 30. But every one of them have no idea what they are talking about
Who said that FG’s rating isn’t subjective?
I mean, I literally said “all ratings are subjective”.
Somehow you read that and concluded that I meant “Some ratings are not subjective”? If so, that’s on you.
Subjective or not, you are just flat out wrong on your assessment. You said why not just look at fangraphs for a player grade like that was less subjective or had more weight than team rankings. But sure pal
I in no way said that it was less subjective
The hell are you talking about?
Ranking sites are always behind the dream gm. Usually they catch up though. Look for him there next year.
I wouldn’t look at rankings so much as the reports. Especially from sites like fangraphs that don’t update in season. Id look more at the traits the players have and if the team has shown to be successful at getting the most out of those types of guys. Robberse is highly praised for some of the cleanest mechanics in the system but has had trouble building strength. So he seems more floor than ceiling in that regard but he finally put on some weight (and velo) this past offseason. If the Cardinals are good at getting stuff gains out of guys, you might really like Robberse for them. I don’t know that Kloffenstein is well regarded for anything in particular. More of a case of a physical high schooler who never added the things people projected. “Just a guy” and “nothing there” were things I heard last year. But he’s apparently had a good showing out of the blue this year. Maybe the Cardinals see something the rest of the industry doesn’t.
Montgomery, yes, but Hicks is better than Stratton.
The return is not great sorry to break it to you as a Jays fan who knows these prospects well. You’re looking at 2 lottery picks of ever carving out a respectable major league career. Seems like fair value and a decent trade both ways. Roberse might be a decent 4-5 starter one day or may never make it. Kloffenstein will probably never make it as a starter and will potentially be a decent bullpen piece one day or not make it at all. The Jays did well with this trade straight up. Maybe Sem continues to grow and become something else but it would not coincide with our timeline to win a championship so this is a win for the Jays
Few weeks of Hicks? Just because Romano comes back doesnt mean we lose Hicks…. He will still be a dominant 8th inning guy….
I think you over rated Robberse.
Kloffenstein now #22 in Cards top 30 for mlb pipeline. Always lost behind and have to follow YourDreamGM. The one’s following my work get it done fast. Ones that don’t are always a year behind. Look for him on the 2024 Cards rankings.
This is the biggest overpay of the deadline deals. Crazy return for a guy like Hicks. Great deal for the Cards.
I like this return much better than the Montgomery/straton return from the rangers… Rangers got a steal…
That AA pitcher and middle infielder who will be blocked are what’s to be excited about?
Here we got two middle tier starters for a really good closer
I’m really interested in Adam Kloffenstein
The 11th and 14th ranked prospects from a top third system are more valuable than the 7th and an unranked prospect from a bottom third system
That isn’t necessarily true
You should look at individual grades on the players instead of trying to divine the numbers out of thin air
In this case it very much is true. Based on both individual grades and rankings.
Almost like their is a correlation between a lower individual grade and a lower prospect ranking. Weird how that works
The point went directly past your head
That one team might have a very top heavy system and be ranked better than one that’s deeper so that a player ranked farther down on the deeper system is better than a player ranked higher on the top heavy system doesn’t make sense to you, isn’t something I feel like explaining.
Just because things are correlated doesn’t mean you can always make definite statements about them
Player evaluations can change like the weather. One moment, everything is sunny for the prospect then a rough stretch comes and it’s a disaster warning. Or vice versa.
Kloffenstein looked lost before this season. Things change.
100%
Well….maybe like 90%
or 50%
I dunno
The weather might be more predictable than baseball prospects. So prospects might change more than the weather.
Toronto is just standing still. Their closer went on the IL and Hicks is a replacement closer with a 3.67 ERA/3.02 FIP. No game changer.
I have a hard time seeing Toronto make he playoffs at all. The Sox have owned them this year, as have the rest of the Division.
Funny
That’s why I can see them making the playoffs.
They aren’t significantly worse than those teams so no reason to expect them to continue to struggle like that against them
Hicks is a great closer or setup. Toronto didn’t even look at his era or fip as it would tell them nothing about his future value.
Hicks has great closer potential. He has never been a great closer.
The rest of the League better hope someone in the AL KOs Toronto early.
Considering they have the best record in the league when you take out the AL east games.
Romano
Hicks
Swanson
Richards
Mayza
Garcia
Cabrera
Looking real good
Potentially Green.
Great get for the Jays, if Romano can come back healthy, that’s a dirty back end of their pen.
I would say with healthy Romano jays have one of the best pens in baseball. Swanson, Pearson, Garcia all can be used late and Timmy Mayza is low key having a all star year
How? Hicks just throws hard while walking nearly 6 per nine innings lol. Stop with the hyperbole.
Does he walk thay many or did he walk a lot in April? Toronto doesn’t care about what he did in April. Excellent playoff 8th 9th inning arm.
It was a costly acquisition for Toronto though. Two promising starting AA pitchers who are close the majors for 2+ months of a relief pitcher? Hicks needs to be a true difference maker and get them into the playoffs for this deal to be worth it for Toronto.
Costly indeed. But not elite arms. Other teams have paid as much or more. For buying now it is fair price.
Should get something good for him.
It’s a sellers market I’m sure they got something good.
Oh yeah, Adam Kloffenstein, earth shattering return in this “seller’s market”.
It definitely is
The Sem is a legit good prospect so wouldn’t be so pissy with the return
He’s a rental reliever, not sure if they’ll get much. More sellers than buyers this year.
What are you talking about. Way more buyers than sellers this year. Is like 20-10 buyers vs sellers.
Then why are the returns on most trades so poor?
You are kidding right…most of the returns have been very high. Gio top 100 with a 5 era, scherzer got a top 50 prospect. I could keep going.
Mets had to pick up $20+ million to move Scherzer and everyone the White Sox have traded are rentals.
Just because a team is in playoff contention doesn’t make them a buyer if they’re not inclined to make a move. There are definitely not 20 teams acting like buyers right now, no idea where you got that number.
Giolito does not have a 5 era
Scherzer you know is a potential game changing player who may not be a rental.
The teams with a glut of top prospects like the Dodgers, Ranger and Orioles could also be thought of as seller and them teams, like the Cardinal, who need a ton of players for the further as buyers. It takes two to trade and each side isn’t going to settle just to make a deal.
Because you really don’t know much about the prospects involved and expect major leaguers to be involved.
Hosting its Kloffehstein or however it’s spelled
Obviously not a huge return if a Jays fan can’t even spell his name
For two months of Hicks? No Way.
Kloffenstein and Robberse
Doesn’t really hurt.
Still leaves lots of prospects for Soto and Hader
Soto isn’t getting traded.
Huge sellers market. Everyone has boosted their farms.
Yes !!
Ya don’t Say, eh?
And it begins
Yes it is and Rays,Yankees haven’t made a move that means something.
And the trade deadline isnt here yet so they have time to make an impactful move still.
Great move for TOR. Next 48 hours are gonna be wild!
Yes it is and biggest BP out their if Hader doesn’t get moved yet per Nightengale.
Well I would hold off to see the return. It’s nice they required a reliever though.
Great move. They needed another high leverage reliever!
MItch White should be making travel arrangements.
or yimi hopefully
yimi’s contract vested. he’ll be here for a little while longer.
I think it is so poetic for Shapiro and Atkins that Yimi Garcia vested his $6million 2024 contract by giving up a two run homer in the top of the 10th by spinning a floating slider to a fairly good hitter.
Hopefully Mitch White went back to the Cardinals as part of the deal.
I can totally see the Dodgers bringing White back to the organization. Send him to OKC to see if he can get straightened out, and if so call him up when rosters expand. He was never great with the Dodgers, but he wasn’t terrible.
He was OK as a #5/#6 guy with the Jays last year but has completely tanked with the team this year.
White has no options and has been DFA’d.
White DFA’d
Very solid pickup.
I heard Billy eppler forgot that he could trade with the blue jays because they are not in America. So he never even called Ross Atkins.
They are from America. The ‘North’ part, even.
Toronto is the 51st state in the US.
Or so we’re told
Waiting for the more to come.
Yes waiting so MLB Network has a lot to talk about,
Nate Pearson? I can’t think who else the cardinals would want
SP? Brett Phillips the OF?
St Louis would adore Brett he might take Fredbirds job
I’m wondering if Romano is hurt more than just a sore back.
Are the Jays buying?
Yes? 59-47 record and currently holding the second wild card. Why wouldn’t they be buying?
I just love how everyone talks about teams making trades and picking up players in the AL East and simply still don’t mention the current best team in the division. I understand talking about the Jays because this is a story about them.
So, what? You click on a story about the Jays making a trade and then complain that the Orioles aren’t mentioned?
even as a Yankee fan I am happy Orioles are back. I always thought the Indians, Rangers and Orioles were great ALDS and ALCS series through the 90s and 2000s.
It’s trade deadline. We talk about teams trying to win a world series. Not one’s trying to get a top 5 farm system ranking.
I’ve never seen a guy that can throw 105 struggle to put up good numbers like this guy.
He had a rough start to the season. He’s actually been pretty good since mid-May
Chapman did for a while as a starter and then previous couple years
He can hit 104 a few times this season IIRC.
Not to mention, it was huge that they kept on to him after he had an ERA over 10 at the start of the year. The fact we are getting something solid hopefully for him is big in my eyes.
Good move
For Sem Robberse?
Where you at Little Stevie? Some of us know more then you’d like to admit.
I don’t know who they gave us, but im not psyched that we traded Hicks on his own, unpackaged.
Maybe an OF or Catcher also from Cardinals.
Would have like to see Carlson included.
he’s a 118 ERA plus and he’s only given up 2 HRs in 40+ ip going to a bullpen that is 5th in ERA+ but has problems keeping the ball in the park.
great signing for the jays regardless of your personal feeling for him
Would’ve been a nice pickup for the Marlins.
Sure hope so, DeJong at least.
Ready to hear what’s coming to the Cardinals. Hicks is boom or bust I like the move for the Jays.
I’m guessing at least one of the Jays top three LHP prospects (Tiedemann, Barriera, Macko) will be heading to STL. The first two as the top of a package or Macko as a lesser part of a package led by a bat.
Tiedemann, not for Hicks. Barriera, ,doubt it, really doubt it. Macko, yeah, I’d do that trade..
I guess Hiflew has me muted for some reason, not sure why. Can’t reply directly to their comment
But boy was that assumption way off
Robberse was #7 likely to be a 3 or 4 if he hits his ceiling and Kloff was like the 10th
Cards are hoping 1 of them has a decent next 7 years and it’ll be a win for them
Tiedemann for a few months of Jordan Hicks? Keep dreaming.
There’s no way 2 months of Hicks gets your tiedemann or Barriera.
SS Leo Jimenez (ranked as Toronto’s #20 prospect by MLB.com) was removed from the lineup for AA New Hampshire just before their game started, so he’s a prime candidate. Excellent fielder who’s made some strides with the bat over the last year or so. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Mitch White head over as well -awful results this year, and he’s out of options, but a decent buy-low candidate. The Cards can afford to see if he can work things out over the next 2 months. If he can get back on track, he could be a #5 starter for St. Louis next year…
Nice addition jays!
Cardinals receive… a future third-basemen. 😉
No, I expect a young starter. Or at least they better receive one.
Nice move by the Blue Jays. Always a good trade partner with St. Louis.
Kloffenstein sucks. Steal for the Jays. Cards get fleeced again.
Sem Robberse is going too. #6 prospect on fangraphs list
Edman’s on the IL. I think they are shopping DeJong quite heavily.
Edman is on a rehab at Memphis and expected to rejoin the Cardinals on Tuesday.
Seems like a very fair and reasonable assessment
Leo Jimenez was pulled from lineup in minors prior to start of game.
bad wrist according to reports
Bang the drum slowly…
I hope he closes out this save before leaving town.
I would suspect DeJong is traded and Edman (when he comes off IL) and Motter will play SS.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see Winn brought up when DeJong is traded. He’s raking at AAA over the last two months. He did start slow then kept getting hotter and hotter at the plate.
Winn is legit – no question!
So does Hicks close now until Romano gets back? And is Gallegos now closing for the Cards?
Probably? (x2)
Hicks is going to cause a lot of anxiety for Blue Jays fans…great upside for the rest of the season, but would scare me in a big game.
Jays fans say the same thing about Romero. I wonder if all fans say that about their closers?
Not if you had Mariano Rivera and followed his entire career. Now we have no closer so I just yell at Boone.
I’ll dress Boone up as a cloud so non-baseball fans can participate ;o)
Well, another miss by the D’Backs, but I keep forgetting that the D’Back has Chafin as a closer and Luvello see him as really reliable what a joke, I guess money is an object for the D’Backs now since they don’t have that TV contract with Bally’s anymore, they have to count their penny’s now.
Seriously, lol. They get 2 months of hicks. He has been on a roll lately but he makes you bite your nails alot. Kloffenstein has good numbers as a young for his league pitcher. Hicks obviously didn’t want an extension so the fact we got a decent prospect is amazing. Hicks was close to being DFA’d early in the season. your hate for the cards is super weird. Doesnt it ever get old for you? Slider you got real problems man
Nice return for Hicks. I like it a lot.
Good Move. Bluejays pen getting better. They are going to need it if they are making I b out of t he next two series
Another one bites the dust while the kid GM keeps napping.
I don’t think you missed a trade.
They need to trade their manager along with Mo and his collection of awful bowties for a free redbox rental. Bill DeWitt Jr. Just sits back, complaining about how teams barely break even while assuring the fan base they will hold themselves accountable for placing a competitive team on the field each year. Of course teams have a bad year but this trade along with the one to come will amount to nothing. If the actual return was this single pitcher that barely looks mediocre, it’s an embarrassment. Change the manager! The team isn’t responding to his way of coaching and the bullpen usage has been laughable.
That’s a pretty good deal for both teams. St. Louis did good here for a rental reliever.
Robberse hurts.. they need to extend the guy
Yea Sem is a good prospect, hopfully they get a 1-3 year extension out of hicks to even it out better
If he’s good in Toronto, he seems like a multi year candidate. Rafael Montero like contract?If the Jays traded for him, you’d think they’d be in on him in the offseason too.
I like this return better than the return for Monty and Stratton.
Saw what you did.
Not surprising they sent two black players to Canada and shipped the white ones to Texas. Typical cardinal behavior
What does this even mean? This is a silly thing to say.
Guy is nuts
Hopefully the cards claim white. Along with a couple other recent DFA’s. After they clean house, and hopefully dfa motter and fermin they’ll have like 8 roster spots to fill. Might as well give white and other recent dfa’s a chance
Take a flier on song, bickford and buzardo
Bruihl and leonard from dodgers too
Sem Robberse is a strikeout ace in the making
great trade for the Cards
Cards taking advantage of some injuries to teams
Romano and Eovaldi
So essentially the whole deal is Robberse, Kloffentstein and White for Hicks. Massive overpay. No wonder the #Bluejays can’t win a World Series with a GM operating like this.
Pay the market price or don’t get him. See what scraps are left on Tuesday.
Bad take Jimmer
Losing white is probably the biggest addition by subtraction any team could make this year
Kloff and Sem may never amounts to more than filler and throw ins
You’re talking like we gave them Tiedemann, Barriera and Zulu
Jays when have you ever known Jimmer to have a good take. This guy will whine and complain about the pen or starting rotation then think high end arms can be obtained for peanuts.
This is the same guy who said Semien and Ray would be busts in the spring of 21 and they went on to finish 3rd in MVP and win the Cy Young. .
Jimmer also said Bichatte was all hype and was not good enough to start in the majors.
Does jimmertee ever have a good take . This is a guy who said Bo bichette would be a bust because he had weak wrists and a weak core . He’s an idiot plain and simple . #trasheyes
JImmer is a Jays FO hater. Nothing they do will please him.
Jays will regret this one… King Klof is an elite prospect, and for Hicks- an average middle reliever.
Kloffenstein isn’t a ranked prospect (fangraphs). He was Rule 5 eligible last year and wasn’t taken.
A year in baseball was a long time ago.
For sure closer setup.
Cardinals still aren’t done.
Flaherty will be moved. I suspect DeJong may be moved. I suspect one or both of Carlson and Burleson will be moved. Hell, Edman – currently on the IL – could be moved.
Being sellers is new to Cardinals fans – I get it. At least wait and see what the *entire* haul once the deadline has come and gone before handing out score cards.
Potentially still a lot of new players coming to St. Louis before Tuesday’s deadline.
Sell everyone. Take advantage of it. I would have loved to traded Nolan Paul as well.
Wow this is even more intriguing than the prospects from the rangers. Better than expected for just Hicks.
What? A prospect rated a 45 and the other one not in their top 40 and that’s intriguing?
Yes. Surely you understand prospects can be underrated. Robberse is something to be excited about, and Kloff seems intriguing because his numbers this year are pretty decent. Both are immediately playing in AAA here, so yes, very intriguing.
What do you expect for 2 months of Hicks?
Both are Jays top 20 prospects. Rob top 10.
@boxer, you can study the stats and come to your own conclusions about prospects. Life is better that way
Sure, but prospect ranking sites exist for a reason. Stats never tell the whole story about a prospect.
I will always remember Kloffenstein from MLB The Show 21, where he was listed at 7’0 tall for some bizarre reason (he’s 6’5 IRL according to BBREF).
His character model was comically gigantic and I always traded for him in franchise no matter what team I was playing because I am easily amused lol.
Even win win trade. Hicks walks have been on steady decline. His luck hasn’t yet. He is a playoff setup man or even closer.
2 starting pitching prospects for a closer rental sounds about right this year.
Both teams did really well.
Obtaining two players that won’t possibly impact your MLB roster until 2025 and probably only 20% chance of that is horrible.
2 potential starters w a track record in 2a is an excellent return for hicks.
The AA pitchers the Cardinals got between the two trade will slot in the top 10 ranking of the cardinal prospects. While they are future aces, they are better than what they already had. They need a lot, so even if they are the next round of relievers for 24-28, it’s a need that was addressed.
Mitch White another fine ex-dodger top prospect that flamed out.
Most overhyped system in the history of baseball !
Not a huge fan of relievers who don’t throw strikes. I hope he takes the kind of step forward Cabrera has in that regard. Blue Jays don’t shop for results. They shop for skills and traits they think they can get results from. I’m always interested to see how pitchers do going from one organization to another and Hicks has always been intriguing so I’m hopeful.
Robberse isn’t comfortable to give up for an okay rental reliever. The upside of Hicks has to come pretty quickly for this to work out.
He’s been great lately. He blew a save with a bad throw to first, but he’s really played well the past couple of months.
He was brutal earlier this season, but he seems to have latched onto something of late.
Yeah. It sounds like it. This is one of those things where when you don’t watch a player or team regularly and you can have an impression of a guy that sticks. His year long results this year are in line with the picture of him I have in my head.
In terms of being better, is it based on a certain skill breakthrough or is it more of a stretch with better results?
He’s throwing more strikes and striking people out.
When he first came up, he was a flame-thrower who mainly just got people to ground out. Early this season, he had trouble finding the strike zone. Now, he’s actually pitching like a guy who throws 104.
After digging in a little, I believe more in the results. Throwing more strikes is one thing but command can be fleeting so I worry about sustainability of good results over a short stretch when he’s had a decently long career of not getting these kinds of results. But I see that he’s changed his pitch mix a bit this year and using his four seamer more. Even if it’s only 10% usage, it seems to be working and you can see why. For a guy who doesn’t get much chase, having a third pitch that you can attack a different part of the zone with can certainly help with keeping hitters off balance. I think this is more breakout than small sample noise.
Kinda hoping that the BoSox were gonna end up w Hicks. But looking at what the Jays gave up(almost ready major league starting pitching), the Sox were clearly not gonna be able to land him. Nice job Jays
Jays gave up a lot, wouldnt say nice job just yet… lets see if they can get to and win a playoff game first…its been many years.
Romano
Swanson
Hicks
Richards
Mayza
Garcia
Cabrera
Fantastic looking pen to get through the next two months. Mayza is having a great season, not sure if I trust him in the post season, probably not. I’d prefer Cabrera vs a tough lefty when it’s post season time. But that’s just preference. It’s a great looking pen, hopefully they all perform when it matters most
Having Richards coming in as the first reliever after Gausman or Kikuchi then having Cabrera or Hicks after that is going to be a nightmare for anyone.
Love this pen. Dare I say the best in baseball now?
It’s a better bullpen with some holes in it (Yimi). Let’s hope Chad Green comes back healthy. Jays still need a right handed OF bat. Or a 2B bat if they want to move Merrifield to LF.
Mr. Deeds will never learn. “Meanwhile” has to start the sentence. You can’t just throw it in the middle.
This chat funny