Toronto Blue Jays: You can’t give away assets for nothing

While I can understand why the Blue Jays wanted to open up playing time in their infield, giving away Freddy Galvis on waivers for nothing makes no sense.

On Monday we got the surprising news that the Cincinnati Reds had claimed Freddy Galvis, who the Blue Jays had put on waivers.

Now that the trade deadline rules have changed, things are different. In the past, the Blue Jays and Reds would have had the opportunity to work out a trade, and if not, then Toronto would have had the choice to retain their player. However, that’s now changed and as a result of the Reds’ claim, the veteran shortstop is now on his way to join the National League.

I can understand why the Blue Jays’ front office wanted to move on from Galvis, and it has nothing to do with his own performance and everything to do with the emerging talent in their system. Allowing him to leave for Cincinnati gives the veteran a chance to start on a regular basis again, something that he deserves at this stage of his career. It also allows for Bo Bichette to start at shortstop, and Cavan Biggio at second base, something that’s important to the development of this franchise right now.

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I’m just having a hard time understanding why the Blue Jays allowed another player asset out of their control and got nothing in return.

I have no doubt that the Blue Jays shopped Galvis and Justin Smoak prior to the July 31st deadline, and obviously they didn’t find a taker or a deal to their liking or there’s a very good chance a trade would have been made. However, that doesn’t mean that Galvis has no trade value, it’s more a result of what the contender needs were this year.

In the American League, it’s looking like the playoff field will be made up of Astros, Yankees, Twins, Rays, and Cleveland, with Oakland and Boston still fighting to get into the picture. There aren’t a lot of infield needs among those teams, or in the case of a team like the Rays, Eric Sogard‘s minimum contract was easier to work in. As surprising as it was to see Galvis slip through waivers in the American League altogether, having a look at the real contenders and their depth charts helps it to make more sense.

But with there being a club option on the 29-year-old’s contract for 5.5 million, I’m truly surprised that the Blue Jays didn’t keep him around and see what they could find over the winter. Shopping him during the offseason would have opened up a lot more teams that could have been interested, especially because he’s having a career-year in a lot of categories, and he’s on a very reasonable salary. I realize he wasn’t going to bring back a haul of prospects or anything, but giving away a player like Galvis and getting nothing in return makes no sense to me.

If this was some sort of handshake or gentlemen’s agreement when the Blue Jays signed Galvis to begin with, then I can accept that, but you would think they would say as much publicly if that’s the case. He should be a starting shortstop in the big leagues, and I wouldn’t have expected him to be okay with becoming a super-utility type, even if the Blue Jays could have really used him well in that role. But with just 40 games left this season, it feels like a shame to let him go for free. We already saw one deal that felt like that when the Blue Jays made a 3-1 deal with the Astros, sending Aaron Sanchez out at his lowest value.

Overall, I’m a big fan of the way this rebuild is going so far (how could I not be?), and I do think that the Blue Jays’ front office have mostly done a good job. However, when it comes to letting go of a player asset for literally nothing, I just can’t wrap my head around that.