What the Blue Jays are getting in their addition of Scott Feldman

The Blue Jays were busy on Monday in the final hours before the trade deadline, making three trades with the Astros, Dodgers, and Pirates.

The Blue Jays added plenty of pitching on the final day before the trade deadline. In three separate deals, the Blue Jays added Scott Feldman from the Houston Astros for pitching prospect Guadalupe Chavez, Mike Bolsinger from the Dodgers for Jesse Chavez, and a very late addition of Francisco Liriano and two prospects from the Pirates for Drew Hutchison.

The moves provide plenty of depth for both the rotation and the bullpen, filling a great need for the Blue Jays prior to the deadline.

Looking specifically at the deal for Scott Feldman, the Blue Jays are adding an experienced right handed swingman, not all that much different from what they had in Jesse Chavez. The hope here is that Feldman can provide more value than Chavez was able to this season, filling the role as the longman in the pen, with the ability to start if called on.

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Feldman is now 33, and has packed his bags a few times throughout his MLB career. After debuting as a 22 year old with Texas in 2005, he stuck with the organization until 2012. He won 17 games as starter in 2009, but bounced between the starting and pitching out of the bullpen for most of his career. Over parts of 12 seasons, he has a 69-76 record with a 4.35 ERA over 183 starts and 307 appearances. He will earn the balance of $8 million for the reminder of this season before becoming a free agent again.

Feldman signed with the Cubs in 2013 before being traded to the Orioles later than season. He then spent 2014 until yesterday with the Houston Astros all as a starter in the first two seasons, but has returned to a swingman role in 2016.

With Houston this season, the veteran was 5-3 with a 2.90 ERA over five starts and 26 total appearances. He’s thrown 62.1 innings with a WHIP of 1.242 and has 42 strikeouts against 13 walks. For the second time this week, the Blue Jays made a trade with their current opponent, so Feldman was able to join the team quickly.

With the departure of Jesse Chavez, Feldman will fill the same role and the Blue Jays hope he can continue to perform as well as he has in Houston this season. While Chavez wasn’t awful, he also wasn’t very good and the Blue Jays needed to improve the bullpen. This may not be the Andrew Miller or Aroldis Chapman level of bullpen improvement, but it is an improvement.

Next: Inside the situationally brilliant Francisco Liriano deal

Feldman also provides insurance in the event that the starting staff can’t continue their remarkable health. Again, he won’t be a top of the rotation option, but he can be a serviceable back of the rotation starter, which could become an important piece for the Jays as they enter the stretch run.

Guadalupe Chavez was the return for Feldman, who sports a 1.69 ERA so far this season over six starts for the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. In his third professional season, the 18-year-old Guadalupe is a decent prospect, but isn’t considered to have an elite ceiling.