5 of the best trade deadline deals in Blue Jays history

Most teams approach the trade deadline with one of three options in mind; make trades that will bolster their chances to win, sell off assets to rebuild for the future or stand pat and hope for the best.

As a fan it’s always more exciting when your team is a buyer and bringing in players to chase a championship. The Blue Jays have found themselves in that position several times during their franchise history and made a number of moves that paid off.

Here's a look at five of the best.

Five of the best trade deadline deals in Blue Jays history

1. 2015 deadline bonanza: July 28-31 2015

Blue Jays acquire from Troy Tulowitzki and LaTroy Hawkins from the Rockies for Miguel Castro, Jeff Hoffman, Jose Reyes and Jesus Tinoco
Date: July 28, 2015

Blue Jays acquire  David Price from the Tigers for Daniel Norris, Matthew Boyd and Jairo Labourt
Date: July 30, 2015

Blue Jays acquire Ben Revere from the Phillies for Alberto Tirado and Jimmy Cordero
Date: July 31, 2015

Blue Jays acquire Mark Lowe From the Mariners for Nick Wells, Jake Brentz and Rob Rasmussen
Date: July 31, 2015

It only makes sense to group this flurry of moves into one.

The Toronto Blue Jays entered the 2015 deadline at 50-51 and eight games back in the American League East, but General Manager Alex Anthopoulos targeted a few key areas to improve and hit on every move.

Athopoulos upgraded the infield defense by acquiring Tulowitzki to play shortstop, tightened the bullpen by getting Hawkins, secured a staff ace in Price, improved the outfield defense with Revere and brought in Lowe as a bonus.

All four players contributed to Toronto going 43-19 after the deadline, which helped the Jays claim their first AL East title since 1993 and go all the way to the ALCS. None of the players the Blue Jays dealt away have come back to hurt Toronto.

2. Edwin comes north

Blue Jays acquire Edwin Encarnación and Josh Roenicke from the Reds for Scott Rolen
Date: July 31, 2009

A rare deal that works out for both sides. The Blue Jays traded a future Hall of Famer in Rolen (who was 34 at the time) to get back a 26-year-old third baseman who had yet to tap into his true potential. In four years with the Reds, Rolen was worth 7.6 bWAR, with an OPS+ of 105. He helped the Reds win the NL Central in 2010 and 2012.

Encarnación initially struggled as a third baseman in Toronto and was put on waivers in 2010, but when he returned, he came back as one of the premier sluggers in the league. Encarnación hit 210 home runs from 2011 to 2016, which was the most in MLB over that time frame.

Encarnación was a key contributor in the Blue Jays returning to the post season in both 2015 and 2016 and he hit one of the biggest home runs in franchise history when he smashed a walk-off home run against the Orioles in the 2016 Wild Card Game.

3. Rickey joins WAMCO

Blue Jays acquire Rickey Henderson fom the Athletics for Steve Karsay and Jose Herrera
Date: July 31, 1993

The Blue Jays entered the 1993 trade deadline looking to repeat as World Series champions, and already had one of the best lineups in baseball that was appropriately nicknamed ‘WAMCO.’

Devon White, Roberto Alomar, Paul Molitor, Joe Carter and John Olerud ended up combining for 111 home runs that season and were worth a combined 27.8 bWAR. The team was slashing .277/.346/.440 on July 30, so most fans assumed general manager Pat Gillick would upgrade the team's rotation.

However, when a deal failed to come together for any of the impact arms avaiable, he switched gears and added the greatest leadoff hitter of all-time.

Henderson may not have hit like he was expected to, but he did compile a .356 OBP in his 44 regular season games with the Blue Jays while swiping 22 bags.

He gave the Blue Jays another weapon for starting pitchers to have to contend with and he had one of the biggest at-bats in Toronto history, when he led off the bottom of the ninth of Game Six of the World Series with a walk, setting up Joe Carter for his “Touch ‘em All” moment.  

4. Toronto acquires a future Cy Young winner

Blue Jays acquire Robbie Ray from the Diamondbacks for Travis Bergen
Date: Aug. 31, 2020

The Toronto Blue Jays entered the 2020 trade deadline within striking distance of a postseason spot for the first time since 2017 in what may be the weirdest baseball season ever. There was an expanded postseason (which is how the Blue Jays were so close to a postseason spot), and the pandemic created a 60 game season, which led to a weird late summer trade deadline.

General manager Ross Atkins took a flier on a couple buy-low options, one of whom was Ray, who was just okat in 20 2/3 innings with Toronto in 2020. But the trade allowed Ray and the Blue Jays to build some familiarity with each other before he resigned in the offseason.

It turned out to be a huge move as Ray went on to lead the league in bWAR (6.9), strikeouts (248), ERA+ (157) innings pitched (193 1/3 innings), WHIP (1.045), games started (32) and ERA (2.84) in 2021 en route to becoming the fourth Blue Jay to win a Cy Young.  

5. Berríos bolsters rotation

Blue Jays acquire José Berríos from the Twins for Austin Marin and Simeon Woods Richardson
Date: July 30, 2021

While the jury is still out on the players the Blue Jays gave up in this trade, there's no denying they picked up a legitimate ace in a trade that helped them build for the present and the future.

At the time, Berríos gave the Blue Jays a formidable four-man rotation, as he joined the aforementioned Cy Young winner in Ray along with Alek Manoah (who was in the midst of a sensational rookie season), Steven Matz (3.82 ERA) and veteran Hyun Jin Ryu.

Berrios was worth 1.5 bWAR in the 12 games he started for Toronto in 2021 with 78 strikeouts in 70 innings. While the Blue Jays fell one game short of the postseason, he's turned into a horse at the front of Toronto's rotation.