Adam Macko is Blue Jays' last hope to salvage this polarizing trade

*Written prior to Monday, May 18

Whenever Adam Macko makes his first appearance for the Toronto Blue Jays, he'll become the first Slovakia-born player in MLB history. That alone is worth celebrating, but the 25-year-old southpaw must have more aspirations in mind beyond just being an answer to an obscure trivia question.

As everyone realizes by now, the Blue Jays' bullpen has been subpar this year. Louis Varland has broken out and earned the closer role and Tyler Rogers remains impossible efficient as a set-up man, but nearly everyone else in the relief corps is struggling with consistency. Macko, who has a wealth of starting experience in the minors, can eat a lot of important innings for this team right.

He can also offer some closure (and maybe even a chance for some revisionist history) on one of the most controversial trades in recent memory.

Adam Macko faces the weight of being Blue Jays' only chance to win Teoscar Hernández trade

Macko was acquired in the 2022-23 offseason as part of the ill-fated Teoscar Hernández trade, which sent the All-Star outfielder to Seattle. The Blue Jays also received reliever Erik Swanson in the deal -- he had a nice debut in Toronto in 2023 (2.97 ERA over 69 appearances) but fell apart in subsequent seasons, ultimately leading to his release and retirement last year.

The Hernández trade was wildly unpopular the moment it was made; at the time, he was a 30-year-old outfielder with two Silver Sluggers and one All-Star nod on his résumé. He wound up not performing terribly well in his lone, rental season with the Mariners, but he's since gone on to become a two-time World Series champion with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Hence the expectations Macko is facing despite only just being called up to the big leagues. Trading away a fan favourite never sits well, particularly when one half of the return is already out of baseball.

The good news is he has the talent to succeed at the top level of the sport. He wasn't exactly dominating in Triple-A prior to his promotion (4.50 ERA, 4.91 FIP in 18 appearances), but he was still racking up a ton of strikeouts behind an arsenal comprised of four pitches that all grade as average or plus.

Command has long been his most glaring flaw, though he can get away with a few walks if he can carry over his 28.8% chase rate from his time in Buffalo. As a third lefty behind Mason Fluharty and Joe Mantiply, Macko doesn't have to become a high-leverage option right away; he merely needs to help stabilize the bullpen in order to start making good on his potential.

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