Blue Jays Acquire Drew Storen for Ben Revere

The Blue Jays had a bit of a logjam in the outfield and a need for relief pitching. Those two issues have been resolved with the reported trade of Ben Revere to the Nationals for former closer Drew Storen.

Ideally, when a trade is consummated, it helps both sides. The Blue Jays have needed bullpen help, either in bringing in a solid closer or someone that can set up for Roberto Osuna. The Nationals, meanwhile, have needed a left handed hitting outfielder capable of playing center field. These two teams seemed to be tailor made trade partners, given Toronto’s outfield depth and the Nationals rumored interest in moving either Drew Storen and/or Jonathan Papelbon.

Well, that trade has happened. The Blue Jays have sent Ben Revere to the Nationals in exchange for former closer Storen, giving Toronto a proven closer that they could rely upon in either the eighth or ninth inning next season.

It certainly would appear that the Blue Jays sold high on Revere. A slap hitting speedster, Revere has never had an OPS+ above 100, which is league average, during any full season. In his time with Toronto, however, Revere posted a .319/.354/.381 batting line, hitting one of his four career home runs with seven steals. Given the black hole that left field had been prior to his arrival, Revere was one of the more important pieces of the Blue Jays postseason run last year.

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While Toronto may have sold high on Revere, the Nationals cannot say the same for their return on Storen. When given the chance, he has proven to be a solid closer, finishing fourth in the National League with 43 saves in 2011 and having done a solid job in the role during the early part of 2015. However, the wheels came off when Washington acquired Papelbon and moved Storen to the setup role.

Despite his previous success as a setup man, Storen fell apart. From July 28th, when Papelbon was acquired, Storen posted a 6.75 ERA despite a 1.285 WHiP. Most of the damage did occur during one spectacularly brutal week, as Storen allowed ten runs in 3.2 innings over four games from August 7th through August 15th, skewing his overall performance.

An obvious change of scenery candidate, Storen does have the track record of success that the Blue Jays need in the bullpen. Roberto Osuna did perform well in the closer role down the stretch, but there may be questions as to how he will bounce back from his rough performance in the ALCS. By bringing in another proven closer, Toronto now has insurance in the event that the worst case scenario does occur.

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Even though this is a trade that helps both sides, the Blue Jays appear to have gotten the better end of this deal. While we will remember Ben Revere fondly for helping to propel Toronto to the postseason, Drew Storen is the type of reliever that the Blue Jays needed.