Blue Jays’ Tommy Nance-Twins trade looks more like smart prospect hunting than a seller’s move

The Toronto Blue Jays have made a trade to acquire a catching prospect from the Minnesota Twins. Coming into the fold is 21-year-old Ryan Sprock, who was drafted in the eighth round of last years draft (No. 239 overall). Going back to the Twins is veteran reliever Tommy Nance, the 35-year-old reliever who was a lights out weapon for Toronto in 30+ games last year, and has been just fine as a middle relief-low leverage option this year.

Nance ends his Blue Jays tenure with a 3.22 ERA and 3.30 FIP in 82 games pitched between the 2024-2026 season's. He threw 86.2 innings over that time, racking up 85 strikeouts and a 0.9 fWAR.

Sprock is in his second year of professional baseball. He played 23 games at Single-A after being drafted last year and spent the first 65 games of the season at that level again this year. He produced a .306/.436/.441 slash line with five home runs and 37 RBIs with 14 stolen bases. He compiled a 144 wRC+ and .332 BABIP, with a 17.5% walk rate and 11.1% strikeout rate.

It's not hard to see why Toronto sees value in the right-handed hitting prospect out of Elon University, and it's a trade that immediately brings up comparisons to the move they made for Brandon Valenzuela at last year's deadline. They traded infielder Will Wagner to the Padres to acquire Valenzuela in a move that had no barring on their attempt to be competitive in 2025 - but a year later it has certainly worked out.

Shipping off Nance comes across as a similar move because it likely doesn't help the Blue Jays' chances to compete for a playoff spot in 2026. But it also shouldn't be looked at as an intention for the Blue Jays to go into the deadline as sellers. This looks like a move that has become typical of this Blue Jays' front office to jump at the chance to nab a prospect they really like for a price they are willing to pay.

Blue Jays and Twins have been common trade partners the last few years

The Twins (46-48) are one game out of the third Wild Card spot (going into Jul. 10 games) and two games back of the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. Their bullpen certainly has issues, they rank last in MLB with a 5.56 bullpen ERA and 36th with a 4.66 FIP. Nance won't completely revamp that group, but does offer them a chance to get some stability as they try to figure out whether they think they can actually contend or not in 2026.

The move comes with a bit of a cruel case of irony for the Twins. Over the last couple of years they have made a number of moves with the Blue Jays, but the one they would probably do over in hindsight is the one at last year's deadline which sent the Blue Jays reliever Louis Varland. He's turned into one of the best closers in the league and the Twins could have used an arm like his in their bullpen this year.

Instead they'll have to hope they get a little bit of a run with Nance as they try to fend off the Blue Jays in the chase for a wild card spot.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow