Blue Jays: The pros and cons of adding Whit Merrifield

The Blue Jays made one deal earlier on the final day of the trade deadline, and then came up with an 11th hour swap for Whit Merrifield of the Royals when most of us thought things were done.

I have to admit, my initial reaction to the news was excitement, and then a bit of confusion. If we were talking about the Merrifield that starred for the Royals a couple seasons ago then this would be a massive get for the Blue Jays, but what about in 2022?

To be fair, the Blue Jays were coming up against the 6pm EST deadline, and they hadn’t moved the needle as much as we had all hoped they would by then. They acquired Anthony Bass and Zach Pop from Miami to help the bullpen depth chart, and made a swap with the Dodgers to acquire Mitch White, a capable depth starter, but it still felt like they were still missing that bigger piece of the pie.

In Merrifield the Blue Jays are rolling the dice in a lot of ways, and we probably won’t know how good the trade will turn out to be for quite a while. For now we know that the Jays gave up an emerging depth starter in Max Castillo, and a pretty solid and versatile prospect in Samad Taylor. Was it worth the price the Blue Jays paid, and if not, why not?

Allow me to explain what I believe are the pros and cons to this trade for the Blue Jays, at least as I see it here at the beginning of August. With several variables at play, it feels like it’s pretty early to say whether it was a good or a bad trade for Ross Atkins, and as I said, time will tell us eventually.

And truthfully, there are plenty of arguments for both sides of the deal.