Blue Jays: Three trade deadline targets struggling with their new teams

Coming into the 2022 season, the Toronto Blue Jays were considered a threat to contend for the World Series after all the offseason transactions the front office had put together.

Although they lost Robbie Ray and Marcus Semien, the team gained Kevin Gausman and Yusei Kikuchi who helped create one of the most dynamic rotations in all of the American League when put alongside Jose Berrios, Alek Manoah, and Hyun Jin Ryu. The club also added to the bullpen in Yimi Garcia and shored up third base by acquiring defensive stalwart and power bat Matt Chapman. The Jays weren’t done there, as they also traded Randal Grichuk to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Raimel Tapia and prospect, Adrian Pinto, while also adding Bradley Zimmer from the Cleveland Guardians just prior to Opening Day.

Fast forward to today, and the lineup looks a bit different than what Blue Jays fans might have expected. Ryu is done for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery while Kikuchi is in the bullpen due to his command struggles and being unable to pitch deep into games. Berrios has been inconsistent for most of the year between quality starts and struggling to keep runs off the board while Manoah and Gausman are posting Cy Young contending campaigns.

Alejandro Kirk and Santiago Espinal started the season hot but have slowly started to cool off as the season wears on while George Springer is battling injuries again but is a major contributor when at the top of the lineup. Almost every Jays player has gone through some sort of slump over the course of the season and to top it all off, the front office fired manager Charlie Montoyo and replaced him with John Schneider, who currently holds a 18-12 record since taking over.

Just over two weeks ago was the 2022 trade deadline, and with the club fighting in the AL Wild Card for a playoff spot, the front office needed to make some improvements to the current roster.

They were mixed in with quite a few players like Frankie Montas and Noah Syndergaard but at the end of the day, they made some improvements to the bullpen by adding Zach Pop and Anthony Bass while adding a swingman in Mitch White. Position-wise, the Jays also added 2B/OF Whit Merrifield, who made headlines prior to the All-Star break when he stayed behind when the Royals went to Toronto due to his vaccination status. This has since been cleared up considering he is playing on both sides of the border without being subject to quarantine procedures, but it did seem like an odd move at the time.

The Blue Jays were active at the 2022 trade deadline, and while they did make some moves, there are a few players that they are lucky to have avoided.

Looking back, the Blue Jays fan base’s initial reactions to the moves seemed like it wasn’t enough and left everyone wanting more, especially with how many deals were being made involving big names like Juan Soto and Luis Castillo. It also seemed like every Wild Card opponent was getting better while the Jays only improved slightly in what was widely considered a seller’s trade deadline. These moves have turned out well so far, however, as both Bass and Pop have been fantastic in the Jays bullpen while White has taken Kikuchi’s spot in the rotation for the time being. Although his bat is still a work in progress, Merrifield has been helpful on the defensive side of the ball as well as on the base paths with his plus speed.

Now that the trade deadline has come and gone, it is interesting to see some of the players the Jays were interested in and how they are performing with their new teams. Some are doing well, like Raisel Iglesias with the Braves, while some are not, which I am going to over shortly.

Let’s take a look at three players the Blue Jays were either interested in or seemed like potential fits for at the trade deadline and are struggling with their new teams.

Frankie Montas

Heading into the 2022 trade deadline, one area the Blue Jays were potentially looking to add to was the starting rotation. There weren’t a ton of big names on the open market but Oakland’s Frankie Montas was one of them, and it’s safe to say his name came up a lot in trade discussions.

With the A’s, the right-hander pitched to a 3.18 ERA through 19 starts and 104.2 innings. He was sporting a 9.4 K/9 and a 2.4 BB/9 just prior to the trade deadline but had also dealt with some shoulder troubles a few weeks prior, which many thought would hurt his trade value even with the additional year of contract control.

Once Luis Castillo was traded to the Mariners, Montas became the hot ticket item and the Blue Jays were interested in the Dominican product, being one of the last teams involved in trade discussions before he was sent to the New York Yankees.

Since being traded to the Bronx, the wheels have slowly started to fall off for the right-hander. Through three starts with the Yankees, Montas has allowed 18 hits and 14 earned runs through 14.0 innings of work, sporting a 9.00 ERA with his new club.

He also has seen his walk rate climb almost two full points to 3.9 while the strikeouts have dropped to 5.1 K/9 since the trade. He allowed six earned runs to both St. Louis and the Blue Jays on August 7th and August 18th respectively, with the Jays mustering eight hits and one home run while only striking out twice through six innings. The Yankees are 1-2 when Montas has taken the mound.

One wonders if the shoulder troubles are still bothering the right-hander although his pitch velocity remains in the same MPH vicinity compared to earlier this season.

Whatever the reason is, Yankees fans do not appear too happy with their newest acquisition and the Blue Jays may have dodged a bullet by not adding Montas as the deadline.

Mychal Givens

One area the Blue Jays desperately needed to improve was the bullpen, in particular, adding a pitcher who could throw hard and strike out opposing batters with ease. There were a few names on the board that the Jays were not able to find a deal for like Raisel Iglesias (who is doing well with his new team) but overall, the club did get some solid players with contract control in Anthony Bass and Zach Pop.

Another pitcher who was not necessarily on the Jays’ radar but would have checked quite a few boxes that I mentioned earlier was former Cubs reliever, Mychal Givens. You probably remember Givens from his six years with the Baltimore Orioles organization, where the right-hander amassed a 3.32 ERA through 336.0 outings and but struggled against the Blue Jays, owning a 4.28 ERA through 37 appearances with three saves.

The Cubs signed Givens to a one-year deal in the 2021/2022 offseason with a $3.5 million mutual option for the 2023 campaign. With Chicago, Givens was pitching well as the club’s setup man, earning a 2.66 ERA through 40 appearances with an 11.3 K/9. He did have some trouble with the walks, evident by his 4.2 BB/9, but was limiting the damage on the scoreboard and owned a 3.84 FIP when all was said and done. His fastball didn’t light up the radar in the mid-90s but he would have had the highest K/9 on the team if he joined the Jays at the deadline.

The Cubs eventually traded Givens to the New York Mets and the right-hander is still trying to find a rhythm with his new club.

Through eight appearances, the Florida product has allowed 12 hits through seven innings while getting touched up for nine earned runs. His first outing with the Mets saw him get tagged for five earned runs off five hits and two home runs with zero strikeouts against the Nationals. He does have some solid outings mixed in with the Mets but he has also been touched up for four earned runs combined when facing Atlanta through four innings of work.

While his strikeout and walk numbers are still impressive, 11.6 and 1.3 respectively, he has seen his HR/9 balloon to 3.9, which won’t bode well in a strong NL East and certainly wouldn’t do well with the Jays in the AL East. Again, it is early to tell whether this is just a rough patch or a trend for Givens, but his first look in New York is off to a rough start.