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.

The Horse

After the 2011 season, Chicago White Sox superstar Mark Buehrle left the Windy City and signed a four-year deal with the Miami Marlins worth $55 Million.  However, after just one season in Miami, the franchise was trying to cut a lot of new salary and he was included in the trade to Toronto.  Buerhle was the definition of a workhorse pitcher as he came into Toronto with 12 straight seasons with at least 200 innings pitched per season.  Buehrle would continue that streak for two more years in Toronto and then fall just four outs shy of reaching that mark in 2015.  Manager John Gibbons tried giving Buerhle a chance to reach 200 innings as he gave him one day’s rest and put him back out on the mound for the final game of the year as he needed just six outs to reach 200.  He wasn’t able to get out of the first inning as he allowed eight runs and would fall short of reaching the milestone. That would be Buehrle’s last career game.

Buehrle won double digit games in all three seasons with Toronto, including 15 in 2015 and was named an All-Star in 2014 when he finished the season with a 13-10 record and 3.39 ERA.  During the 2015 season, the Blue Jays clinched a playoff berth for the first time in 23 years, however, although Buehrle led the league in complete games, he was left off the postseason roster.  Known as one of the greatest teammates in baseball history, Buerhle was quoted by the Globe and Mail giving his view of not being included on the roster, “They’ve already talked to me. It’s tough, it sucks. But I understand the situation,” and “I haven’t been feeling the greatest the last month and we’ve got four guys that have been throwing the spit out of the ball. And they’re going to take it and run with this”

Buerhle’s career ended after that season and he finished his Blue Jays career with a 40-28 record and 3.78 ERA.

The Superstar
Many fans got really excited when they heard Jose Reyes was in the deal and thought it could be the next coming of Roberto Alomar.  It looked like the team had a legit leadoff hitter and superstar infielder coming into the lineup.  Reyes brought an exciting attitude to the game that teammates fed off of.  He was just one season removed from winning the batting title with the New York Mets and had stolen at least 30 bases every full season he played.

Like Buehrle, Reyes had just signed a massive contract the season before in Miami in the way of a six year deal worth $102 Million, but after one season was traded to the Blue Jays.  Reyes impressed early on in his tenure, however, as the seasons went on his defensive ability went from good to just down right costly.  His range had depleted to the point he wasn’t getting anywhere close to balls he used to and he was booting easy ground balls that were right at him.  Reyes was making an error every 20 chances he had.

Reyes would join a large package that was sent to Colorado during the 2015 run to the playoffs in exchange for Troy Tulowitzki.  Reyes struggles continued with the Rockies and part way through the 2016 he was released, which he would try and make a comeback with the New York Mets.  Reyes would have three moderate seasons with the Mets before retiring in 2018.

Reyes ended his Blue Jays career playing two and a half years for a total of 305 games where he batted .289 with a .334 OBP, 23 home runs, 122 RBI and was 61 for 71 in stolen bases.  Unfortunately he’ll most be remembered for his defensive miscues in 2015 when he made 13 errors in 69 games during his final season.

The Miss

The player I thought was going to surprise fans was Emilio Bonifacio.  The speedy base stealer could play all over the field as he had played every defensive position except first base and catcher.  Bonifacio had always hit for a decent average, however, things just did not work out in Toronto.  After having just a .218 BA and .258 OBP the Blue Jays sold him to the Kansas City Royal in August of that first season in Toronto.

Bonifacio would bounce around the league for the next few years and after not getting any major league at-bats in 2018 and 2019, he got three trips to the plate in 2020 with the Washington Nationals, but failed to get a hit.  It looks as though Bonifacio’s time as a professional baseball player may be coming to an end.

Cup of Coffee
John Buck was an add-on in the trade with the Marlins, but it isn’t clear if he ever actually came to the city of Toronto after the deal.  Less than a month after the trade, Buck was packaged in a deal to the New York Mets for R.A. Dickey.  Buck would play for four major league teams over the next two seasons before retiring after the 2014 season.

The Cost

The Infamous Player
The most popular player in the trade that left Toronto was Yunel Escobar.  Escobar was just two months removed from an incident where he put a homophobic slur written on his eye black during a game on September 15, 2012.  The act got him suspended and essentially booked his ticket out of town.

Like John Buck, less than a month after being traded, Escobar would be shipped again as the Marlins would trade him to the Tampa Bay Rays.  Escobar would have short stints in Tampa Bay, Washington and Los Angeles (Angels) before retiring after the 2017 season.  Escobar always had a steady bat at the plate and would bat over .300 in back-to-back seasons in 2015 and 2016.

In his first season with the Tampa Bay Rays he played in his only post season and hit incredibly well in the ALDS against the Boston Red Sox in a four game loss.  In the four games, Escobar went 7 for 15 (.467) with a pair of doubles and just one strikeout.  Escobar his now retired since 2017.

Veteran Help
Jeff Mathis was coming off his first season with the Blue Jays after seven years in the Angels organization.  As a career back-up, it appeared he was an easy throw in player on the deal.  He would stay in Miami as their second-string backstop for four seasons before stops in both Arizona and Texas.  His time with the Marlins saw a player with a .195 BA and .252 OBP with no power over 210 games.

Mathis just became a free agent this winter after two seasons in Texas that saw him have a .159 BA.

Position Player Pieces

Adeiny Hechavarria

The Blue Jays signed Adeiny Hechavarria as a 21-year old international free agent out of Cuba and almost immediately was identified as the best defensive infielder in the organization, even while in the minors.  Hechavarria had no trouble climbing through the Toronto ranks and made 41 appearances in the 2012 season.  After the trade to Miami, he immediately became the Marlins first-string shortstop for four years.  While the young Cuban does not come close to the offensive prowess that Jose Reyes had, the defensive side of the game was heavily favoured in Hechavarria’s direction.  He never had a fielding percentage below .977 with the Marlins, while Reyes never once reached that mark as he finished .974/.965/.953 in his three seasons with Toronto.

Since his four seasons with Miami, Hechavarria has bounced around the league with five different teams in the last four seasons and is currently a free agent.

Jake Marisnick
The last player of the deal was Jake Marisnick who the Blue Jays had drafted a few years prior and was showing a lot of promise through the minor leagues.  His biggest assets was his defensive side of the game and his base stealing ability.  In three minor league years, Marisnick was 84 for 104 in stolen base attempts.

With the Marlins he was called up during his first season and stole 11 bases in just 40 games, however, he was moved that offseason for some pitching help for the Marlins.  Marisnick would end up with the Houston Astros for five seasons where he played over 600 games.  In September of 2017, Marisnick fracture his thumb and missed out on the team infamously winning the World Series.

Marisnick ended up with the New York Mets during the 2020 season, however, spent multiple stints on the injured list due to hamstring injuries.  He will now be 30-years old going into the 2021 season and has over 700 career games where he has a slash line of .229/.281/.385.

Conclusion

Now with eight full seasons behind us, I wanted to look at who ended up as the winner of this trade.  Did the Blue Jays get fair value for giving up so many prospects?  The first thing I had to do was start cutting out pieces of the trade that I found were players we didn’t need to analyze too much.  Jeff Mathis and John Buck are the easiest players to remove in the deal, the second is Yunel Escobar.  Escobar was an addition by subtraction due to his recent problems and with Reyes coming over the team needed to get rid of him.

I am left with the trade looking like:
To Toronto: Jose Reyes, Emelio Bonifacio, Mark Buerhle and Josh Johnson
To Miami: Adeiny Hechavarraia, Jake Marisnick, Henderson Alvarez, Anthony DeScalafni and Justin Nicolino

The Blue Jays ended up getting 97 starts over three season, 40 wins and an All-Star Appearance out of Mark Buehrle over three seasons.  He immediately becomes the best player and performer of the exchange.

Even with all the frustration that Jose Reyes brought, he hit 97 extra base hits with 61 stolen bases and had a slash line of .289/.334/.404, which is a pretty impressive leadoff hitter.  Reyes becomes the second best player in the deal.

The rest of the players that went to the Marlins, outside of one great season by Henderson Alvarez have not proved to be anything more than middle to back of the rotation pitchers, and replacement-level positional players.

Almost a decade later, in my view the Blue Jays won this deal even with the unfortunate injury to Josh Johnson and the struggles of Emilio Bonifacio.

What is your view?  Do you think the Blue Jays traded too many prospects in this deal?  Which prospect was your favourite on the day of the deal?