Blue Jays Trade option in time of need

As the Jays struggle for answers and ways to make the team better ASAP, we can look around and consider solutions opined by members of the baseball intelligencia.

One such example that seemed particularly intriguing was espoused by TSN’s Steve Phillips: he suggests a payroll-neutral deal with the Mets for slugger Jay Bruce and 23-year old righty Robert Gsellman, in exchange for Francisco Liriano and Dalton Pompey.

I know a lot of your immediate reactions to such a deal range from being perplexed to a resounding “no”. The thing is, if you stop and think about it for a second, it’s not a bad trade at all, with some interesting ancillary features as well.

Basically, the Jays would be trading an aging arm, for a young one that can throw an array of pitches. One of those pitches (and ancillary features that I speak of), that has become a hallmark of the Mets pitching staff, is what has been dubbed the Dan Warthen Slider, after the Mets’ pitching coach.

Have a look at the link because this pitch has some serious pedigree attached to it – as a major part of the repertoires of the likes of starters Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey, and closer Jeurys Familia.

It’s essentially a tighter, faster slider with more subtle movement than the big sweeping sliders we’ve become accustomed to seeing, and is a very effective out-pitch when looking for a swing-and-a-miss for strike 3.