Blue Jays Trade: Liam Hendriks Back to TO

The World Series has just ended. People are still going on (and on) about Madison Bumgarner and the “Chevy Guy”. But, the Blue Jays are not basking in the afterglow of a brilliant championship series. Nope. They have started the off season quickly perhaps taking advantage of a Royals team who still may be a little distracted.

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Blue Jays have traded for Liam Hendriks:

This is indeed an interesting development. Firstly because the Blue Jays sent him to the Royals for Danny Valencia and they wasted no time in getting him back. Secondly, this is interesting because the Royals are seeking a catcher in return, which is exactly what they got WITH Hendriks when Erik Kratz was part of the package.

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Hendriks covered a few games for the Blue Jays this season, but spent most of his time in Buffalo (AAA) where he performed very well. In fact, he was named the starting pitcher for the International League in the AAA All Star game. Between Buffalo and Omaha (Kansas City’s AAA team), Hendriks compiled a 12-2 record and a 2.45 ERA.

At this point, it is unclear just where he fits in. He did quite well in AAA, but his foray into MLB didn’t go so well where he was 1-2, 5.23 between KC and Toronto. Perhaps the only thing that is clear is that the Blue Jays plan on loading up on depth. The question remains: For what? We’ll have to wait and see. Although, Mike Wilner tells us that Hendriks is going to have to make the club, or the Blue Jays will have very few options as Hendriks has none left.

As for the catcher in return: this intrigues me. Kratz is eligible for arbitration and the Royals have arguably one of the best catchers in the game in Salvador Perez. Perez is such a stud that he caught 158 games this year (including the post season), which is ridiculous for a catcher! Considering what they already have, I’m intrigued to hear who the catcher is they are getting from Toronto.

***Update: The Blue Jays are sending C, Santiago Nessy to KC per club announcement:

21 year old Nessy hit .243 between Lansing (A) and Dunedin (A+). This really isn’t much of a loss for the Blue Jays considering the following:

They very well could have ended up losing Nessy anyway, which if you look at it (you might need to squint) means a free look at Hendriks in Spring Training.