Blue Jays: Toronto/Miami Trade, Reviewed Eight Years Later

It was November 19, 2012 and the Toronto Blue Jays were coming off a disappointing season that saw them end 16 games below .500.  On that day, Alex Anthoplous would complete a massive 12 player deal with Miami Marlins General Manager Michael Hill.

The deal had the Blue Jays bring in five major league players that ranged from superstar to a utility type.  In return the Blue Jays sent seven players, with a handful of them being top-end young talent to Miami.  With eight years now behind us, let’s look back and see how the deal and players all turned out.

The Trade
To Toronto: Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, Emilio Bonifacio and John Buck
To Miami: Henderson Alvarez, Anthony DeSclafani, Yunel Escobar, Adeiny Hechavarria, Jake Marisnick, Jeff Mathis and Justin Nicolino

The Main Piece
The top player in the trade is a pitcher that most fans would likely have forgotten was in the deal, which was Josh Johnson.  Johnson was a massive 28-year old right-handed pitcher that when healthy was capable being an ace of a rotation.  Johnson was two years removed from winning the ERA title in the National League that saw him finish fifth in Cy Young Award voting in 2010.  He followed that season up with an even more dominating start to 2011 that saw him posting a 3-1 record and 1.64 ERA through nine starts; however right shoulder inflammation ended his campaign.

When the Blue Jays acquired him for the 2013 season, they did so with the belief that he was on route to being healthy and returning to form.  Unfortunately for Johnson, his injuries were not behind him when he joined Toronto and he battled two different trips on the disabled list.  Fans did get to see a couple dominating performances including on June 17, he would have his longest outing in a Blue Jays pitcher, throwing 7.1 IP, allowing no runs and striking out 10.

Toronto did not attempt to re-sign Johnson that offseason as injuries had obviously taken too big of a toll on his body and he was granted free agency.  He would never be able to regain his career and would face just one more batter in baseball, which was in 2015 for San Diego’s Single “A” team.