Blue Jays sign pitcher from forgotten Red Sox trade heist as career momentum stalls

Things haven't gone the way Connor Seabold had hoped when he was drafted in the third round of the 2017 MLB draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He made his professional debut with Williamsport in the NYPL at 21-years-old. He made it up to Double-A a few years later and during the COVID-19 shortened season, the Phillies and the Boston Red Sox executed a trade that the Phillies would probably like a do-over on.

The Phillies traded Nick Pivetta and Seabold to the Red Sox for relievers Heath Hembree and Brandon Workman, and it's partly thanks to the Blue Jays that this trade came together.

Blue Jays sign pitcher from forgotten Red Sox trade heist as career momentum stalls

The Phillies were playing the Blue Jays in a double header on Aug. 20 and in both games their bullpen blew late leads, with Toronto winning 3-2 in the first game and 9-8 in the second game. The Phillies wanted to shore up their bullpen and so they acquired Hembree and Workman to try and make that happen.

Neither guy did their job though. Hembree pitched to a 12.54 ERA in 9.1 innings, giving up seven home runs in the process. Workman pitched 13 innings and had an ERA of 6.92 with 11 10 earned runs and nine walks allowed and the Phillies missed the expanded playoffs that season by three games.

Meantime, Canada's own Nick Pivetta (from Victoria, B.C.) found a second life with the Red Sox. In five season's in Boston, Pivetta was worth 9.6 bWAR throwing 633 innings with a 4.29 ERA and racking up 718 strikeouts. It's safe to say Boston was happy with that deal, but what about the other guy in the trade? Seabold wasn't as effective for the Red Sox.

In two years he made six starts and in 21.1 innings gave up 25 earned runs while his WHIP sat at 2.250. On Jan. 17, 2023, the Red Sox sent Seabold to Colorado and while he got a chance to play the entire year, he didn't fair much better. In 87.1 innings he allowed 116 hits, 73 earned runs and only struck out 67 batters. Sure, some of that can be blamed on the "Coors Field effect" but his 16.4% strikeout rate and 10.1% barrel rate aren't the kind of numbers that completely excuse a pitcher from playing in Colorado.

In 2024 Seabold headed to the KBO and played for the Samsung Lions. He made 28 starts and pitched to a 3.43 ERA in 160 innings. Those numbers were impressive enough for the Tampa Bay Rays to bring him aboard last season, but wasn't able to replicate the same numbers he had in the KBO. He mostly pitched in Triple-A Durham, and ended up with a 6.49 ERA in 16 games, 10 starts.

His BB/9 rate was up to 3.8 and his WHIP sat at 1.475. He was put on waivers and then selected by the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 10, 2025. He had his best showing with their affiliate, Triple-A Gwinnett in which he pitched 8.2 innings, all out of the bullpen and allowed just three earned runs, while striking out seven.

The Blue Jays probably saw those last few appearance's of the season from Seabold and thought their might be something untapped in the arm of the 29-year-old righty. However, this is most likely just a depth signing to help fill out the minor league rosters once the season gets started.