Blue Jays throwback: 10 years since the Troy Glaus trade

The Blue Jays landscape remains quiet for the time being, so we hop in the throwback machine on the 10-year anniversary of the deal that landed Troy Glaus

The Blue Jays and MLB news cycles should creak back to life beginning tomorrow, when Monday morning phones begin to ring. We hope. Until then, we’re left to hop in the Throwback Machine. It’s been a while!

On this date in 2005, the Toronto Blue Jays announced a significant deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. In exchange for pitcher Miguel Batista and second baseman Orlando Hudson, the Jays landed third baseman Troy Glaus and shortstop Sergio Santos.

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Before his transition to the mound, Santos spent a short while manning the infields of AAA Syracuse and AA New Hampshire. Fun fact of the day: Santos won the 2007 Eastern League Home Run Derby as a member of the FisherCats.

In Glaus, the Blue Jays added a two-time Silver Slugger and three-time All Star entering his age-29 season. In the four of his past six seasons in which Glaus had been played at full health, he had posted a minimum of 30 home runs and 97 RBI, and that power did initially transfer into the ‘Dome.

Glaus enjoyed an All-Star campaign in 2006, his first season with Toronto, belting out 38 home runs and posting a 3.4 WAR. He would find his way into just 115 games the following season, however, hitting only 20 home runs. It wasn’t long after that Glaus was out of baseball, with his final MLB season coming with Atlanta in 2010 at age 33.

Miguel Batista posted a 2.9 WAR in his lone Diamondback season before moving on to Seattle, while Orlando Hudson and his defensive flair stuck in a starting role with Arizona for three seasons (WARs of 1.9, 2.6, 1.3).

Not long after being named in the Mitchell Report, the Blue Jays traded Glaus to the St. Louis Cardinals for Scott Rolen. Four years removed from a 9.0 WAR season, Rolen was no longer that player, hitting .262 with 11 home runs and a 2.6 WAR in his lone full season with the Blue Jays. His defense was certainly welcome, though.

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Where this links back to the present day, however, is in the next move down this thread. Just ahead of the July 31st trade deadline in 2009, Rolen’s second season with the club, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Zach Stewart, Josh Roenicke and a flawed, falling-star young slugger who’d been hitting .204 at the Major League level. Edwin Encarnacion!

It wasn’t the smoothest road between point A and point B, but the long, slow circles of MLB roster construction can be fascinating to revisit. At the same time, they offer a lesson on the ever-unpredictable nature of the business.

Here’s hoping that tomorrow, we can return the news cycle to the present decade.