The Toronto Blue Jays and the undeniably won trade

Nearly two years after the Toronto Blue Jays acquired Devon Travis from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Anthony Gose, the trade already stands as one of the organization’s clearest transnational wins in recent memory.

Travis, at the time, had just been named the Tigers’ number one prospect, although the Tigers had a weak system and Keith Law referred to the second-baseman as a “non-prospect”. He also had not played above the double-A level at the time of the deal.

Gose, on the other hand, was coming off a 2014 season where he played 94 games with the Major League club, hitting .226 with 15 stolen bases, though his strong defence did push him to a 1.3 WAR. The Dave Dombrowski-led Tigers prioritized his glove and defence at the time, but it’s been downhill ever since. And that hill is a steep one.

Most recently, amid a season where the 25-year-old was hitting .185 at triple-A, Gose no-showed for a game and was subsequently suspended for three more, along with a demotion back to double-A.

Travis? Different story.

Hitting in the leadoff spot last night, where he still profiles as one of the Blue Jays’ top options, Travis hit a pair of home runs including the game-winning blast in the top of the ninth. This performance moved his season average to .290 with a .327 on-base percentage. In just 55 games since returning from an offseason shoulder procedure, Travis has nine home runs and 34 RBI.

More from Jays Journal

• Blue Jays: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. open to a long-term contract
• Blue Jays: Snapping cold streaks at the right time
• Who Should the Blue Jays Extend First: Guerrero, Bichette or Manoah?
• Blue Jays now hold the top Wild Card spot, and yes that’s a good thing
• Blue Jays may have the tools to use a Bullpen Day

What Travis lacks in Gose’s once-a-month flashes of athletic brilliance, he makes up for ten times over with a versatile swing, underrated defence, and fantastic fundamentals in all areas of his game.

When he first joined the Blue Jays, a common thread that ran through his scouting reports was that Travis could hit, but his glove limited him somewhat in the field. Again, he may not provide Tulowitzki-like heroics, but he consistently makes the plays he is supposed to make and has shown well above-average range moving back and to his left into shallow right-field for deep ground balls.

This has earned Travis a 2.0 fWAR in just those 55 games. A level of performance such as this, if extrapolated over a full season, could conceivably see Travis as a 4.0+ win second-baseman, and one that’s under affordable team control until 2021.

In 2015, also shortened due to shoulder injuries, Travis posted a 2.3 WAR in 62 games, right in line with this season. What’s important to consider, however, is that Travis has rarely been operating close to 100%. Last season, Travis tried to battle through the shoulder pain which impacted his performance at the plate. This year, he reached the big leagues after just 38 minor league at-bats and needed two weeks to really find his stride.

A position of relative weakness has now stabilized for the Blue Jays. The presence of Darwin Barney and the defensively-minded Ryan Goins help in this, as well, but in Travis, the Blue Jays have the present and future. All for a cost that, with the benefit of hindsight, was free.