It wasn’t a free agent signing, but shuddered the Major League Baseball market this Friday afternoon. The Toronto Blue Jays sent Cuban outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and one of their top prospects, catcher Gabriel Moreno, to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Daulton Varsho, in a trade that could be considered an overpayment by the Canadian franchise. .
The Dbacks have plenty of outfielders, and most are farm talent and left-handed hitters: Jake McCarthy, Corbin Carroll and Alek Thomas. Therefore, one of the priorities was to add right-hand patrolmen this winter. So far, they’ve met their goal, they’ve got Kyle Lewis, who came over from the Mariners and Gurriel Jr.
“Yunito” (29 years old) should start with his new team, after all he showed great defense in 2022 and leads all outfielders in assists since 2019. On the other hand, he is an above average hitter (OPS+ of 117 ) and gets on base a little more than Varsho, without forgetting that it will take him two years to reach free agency.
The younger of the Gurriel brothers posted a .285/.329/.468 offensive line in five seasons with Toronto, in which he drove in 254 runs, with 101 doubles, five triples, 68 home runs and 491 hits globally. In addition, he scored 224 times, struck out 378, walked 101 and had an even record of 14 stolen bases in 28 attempts.
Christmas came early. ?
Welcome to the #Dbacksfellas! pic.twitter.com/9D1AnVSG1w
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) December 23, 2022
That’s not the only gain for Torey Lovullo’s team, as they also got the Blue Jays’ best prospect in 2022, Gabriel Moreno. The 22-year-old Venezuelan arrived to reinforce a fundamental position. While Carson Kelly seemed like the catcher of the future, he’s spent too much time on the disabled list (averaging 101 games over the past two seasons). He will now have the support of Moreno, who projects a good defense, a great arm and an outstanding offense, according to Baseball America.
The Jays needed to beef up the defense of the outfield, gain a little more power in the lineup and come out of a receiver. With this change they have met each of those objectives, but they did it at a high price. Now, that’s not to say they’re not getting better.
The Canadian franchise’s outfields showed poor outfield defense last year, and were unable to bolster themselves midseason despite attempts in the trade market. So they hit free agency with a priority of finding defensive outfielders, and that’s why they gave Kevin Kiermaier $9 million for a year, considering the former Rays outfielder has Gold Glove-caliber attributes.
The arrival of Varsho, who has four years controllable by salary arbitration, also improves them defensively. In the past contest he added 17 OAA (Outs Above Average) and 22 Defensive Runs Saved. In addition, he will add more power to the lineup after the Teoscar Hernández trade in November.
If the Statcast data on the park factor is anything to go by, Varsho may benefit more from the Roger Center than from Chase Field. The Jays also have Craig Biggio, Spencer Horwitz and Nathan Lukes to add depth.
Each side benefits from the deal, but that doesn’t rule out the Jays paying a ton for Varsho. Still, in the baseball of 2022, if you don’t build like the Astros or Braves, by pummeling talent from the farm system, you’re bound to pay dearly, either in trades or free agents. For Toronto, it’s time to compete for the Jays, which is why they also signed pitcher Chris Bassit to a three-year, $63 million deal.
The time has come to watch the movie of 2023.
