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

Youthful Pitching

Henderson Alvarez
The player I was most disappointed with giving up was right-handed pitcher Henderson Alvarez.  Alvarez was just 22-years old and already had started 41 games in the major leagues.  In his first season with the Marlins he would throw a no-hitter on the final day of the season.  In his second season with the Marlins he was named an All-Star and finished 12th in Cy Young Award voting when he recorded a 12-7 record and 2.65 ERA.  Like so many players in baseball history, injuries caused Alvarez to have a short career.

In 2014, Alvarez had inflammation in both his shoulder and elbow that led to surgery.  He never bounced back from the injury and he would pitch just three more games in the major leagues.  Alvarez recently signed on with the Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican League.

Anthony DeSclafani
Anthony DeSclafani was a young pitcher coming off a successful season in Single “A” ball for the Lansing Lugnuts that saw him pitch 123.0 innings, posting an 11-3 record and 3.37 ERA.  DeSclafani would climb through the Marlins minor league system quickly and was called up in 2014.  By the end of the season he was packaged to the Cincinnati Reds for Mat Latos.

Since being acquired by the Reds, DeSclafani had put together a decent career in Cincinnati.  The right handed pitcher has sustained some injuries, one of which caused him to miss the entire 2017 season, however he has started 110 games for the Reds posting a 35-37 record and 4.19 ERA.  DeSclafani is still in the Reds organization and finished fifth in innings pitched on the club this past season despite a very bloated ERA.

Justin Nicolino
Justin Nicolino was part of a young trio of pitchers the Blue Jays selected in the 2010 draft that were getting a lot of hype.  The other two pitchers were Aaron Sanchez and Noah Syndergaard.  Nicolino was a tall left-handed pitcher that had dominated minor league baseball in both Vancouver and Lansing.

When he was acquired by Miami he continued to climb through the ranks in their organization and debuted in 2015.  Nicolino has stayed decently healthy over his career, however, he sustained a finger contusion in 2017 that cost him part of the season, which left the Marlins to give up on him and has since bounced around to different organizations.  Nicolino hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since 2017 and has been a free agent for more than a full season.  If his career is over, he finished with a 10-13 record and 4.65 ERA over 50 games pitched.