Anniversary Of The Trade

Sep 21, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes (7) reacts during the ninth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
November 13, 2012. I remember that day well. Is there any Toronto Blue Jays fan that doesn’t?

I had just came home from my long painful first day at a new job I know longer have.

I had no enthusiasm in my soul. All I wanted to do was sit down and watch TV and eat my dinner in my basement.

But before I took a bite of my food I decided to go on mlbtraderumors.com on my cell phone on the off chance the Blue Jays would have done anything in the middle of November.

As soon as the site loaded up the very first thing I read was Blue Jays Close To Acquiring Josh Johnson.

I leaped up from my couch, ran upstairs, put my dinner back in the fridge and ran to the computer to find out more.

This was no time to be hungry and the beat down guy that was me from a long day of work quickly disappeared.

When I got to my computer I saw that the trade was Johnson and Buehrle for Escobar and Hechavarria.

It was back when I was still under the impression that Alex Anthopoulos was a ninja mastermind so I thought wow they really swindled the Marlins in this deal.

Then news broke that Jose Reyes was also coming to Toronto. My jaw dropped but a huge part of me started believing this trade was just a false rumor, something along the lines of a ridiculous rumor going on now.

But then the trade just kept getting bigger and bigger.

At the end of it the Blue Jays had Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes, Emilio Bonifacio and John Buck. And some of the players Blue Jays fans had anticipated being a part of the Jays future went off to the Marlins.

The trade was so big it took a week for MLB to make it official, keeping Jays fans edgy during that week.

It was exciting time to be a Blue Jays fan. It looked like they were finally ready to contend and spend some money.

Yes we know that the Jays only won 1 more game in 2013 than they did in 2012. And that Johnson, Bonifacio and Buck aren’t even Blue Jays anymore, though Johnson isn’t a sure thing to not come back.

And yes the news of the trade breaking was probably one of the most exciting things that happened in the last calendar year when it was supposed to be one of the duller things to happen in the last calendar year.

But there’s no denying that was one of the funnest trades to follow as the news was breaking.

And it’s not knowing when your favorite teams going to make a move in the offseason that has us all refreshing web pages all offseason like a kid on Christmas.