Blue Jays: What kind of return could they get for Freddy Galvis?

Houston Astros acquire Diaz from the Blue Jays

Why not start with an example that most Blue Jay fans will remember well? Last season the most frequent starter at shortstop in Toronto was Aledmys Diaz, who had been acquired the winter before from the Cardinals. He was seen as an insurance policy in case Troy Tulowitzki couldn’t get healthy, and it turned out to be a great decision by Ross Atkins and the front office.

Diaz not only provided the Blue Jays with a solution for the 2018 season, but he also brought back a pretty nifty trade return for Atkins at the start of a rebuild. The Blue Jays managed to flip him to Houston for Trent Thornton, a quality starting pitcher who would have been left unprotected by the Astros in the Rule 5 draft, so they had to do something and the Blue Jays pounced.

Let me be clear, Diaz is not as good as Galvis on either side of the ball, but having four full years of contract control gives him some extra value. He’ll earn two million this season and then enter the first of three years of arbitration eligibility. The Blue Jays also took advantage of the fact that the Astros had to make a move with Thornton, and in theory, the trade works out for both parties. However, it should tip in the Blue Jays’ favour, if it hasn’t already.

What can we learn from the Blue Jays getting Thornton for Diaz? Hopefully Galvis is worth at least one big league calibre starting pitcher. Thornton looks to have an awful lot of upside, so the Blue Jays could certainly do worse if that’s the type of return they get when they put Galvis on the market.