Blue Jays use pitching prospect capital again to bolster big league roster

It is not the two names that were being speculated about, but the Toronto Blue Jays managed to cross off two of their priorities right at the deadline in a deal with the Minnesota Twins. Right handed reliever Louis Varland and utility infielder Ty France are heading to Toronto, in exchange for a pair of prospects in pitcher Kendrys Rojas and outfielder Alan Roden as reported by the Athletics Mitch Bannon.

Ahead of the deadline, GM Ross Atkins laid out the goals the team wanted to achieve via the trade market and upgrading the pitching staff and finding a right handed bat to compliment the current line up was on the list. Varland and France help accomplish those goals to varying degrees, coming off previous moves for Seranthony Dominguez and Shane Bieber.

What the Blue Jays get in Varland is obvious - a younger, hard throwing right hander who touches 98 MPH with his fastball and is won't reach free agency until 2031. The 27-year-old has a 2.02 ERA this season in 51 games pitched. He's thrown 47 strikeouts in 49 innings while giving up just three home runs.

The addition of Varland gives the Blue Jays a much deeper bullpen than they had at the beginning of the week. With Jeff Hoffman and Yariel Rodriguez manning the back end, the Blue Jays now have Dominguez, Varland, and evenutally Yimi Garcia to use as bridge guys. They'll also continue to rely on Brendon Little and Braydon Fisher who have proven their worth this season.

The addition of France feels a bit more like insurance as a opposed to a main attraction. France fits the bill of being a right handed batter and can fill in around the infield as he has manned every position outside of shortstop. The 31-year-old will be a free agent at the end of the year and while he has shown flashes of pop potential in the past, he has only hit 20 home runs once in his career. This season he is slashing .251/.320/.357 with just six home runs in 101 games. He has 63 strikeouts and an OPS+ of just 86.

France will look to take the place of WIll Wagner who was traded earlier in the day to the San Diego Padres for catching prospect Brandon Valenzuela. Essentially, GM Ross Atkins picked up an older-more experienced-right handed version of Wagner to balance out the number of lefties on the bench.

Going the other way to the Twins is the Blue Jays No. 5 overall prospect Rojas - a pitcher who was showing some true potential this season after battling injuries over the past few years. Rojas was just recently called up to Triple-A Buffalo. Rojas is the second top ten prospect the Blue Jays have dealt today after No. 9 prospect Khal Stephens was shipped to Cleveland in exchange for former Cy Young Award winner Bieber. The Blue Jays pitching depth caught the attention of a lot of scouts this season, allowing the Blue Jays to feel comfortable moving a couple of them to get better now, and for the foreseeable future.

Meantime, Roden was a memeber of the Blue Jays opening day lineup after a strong showing during spring training. The lefty hitting outfielder managed just a .204 average and one home run between a couple of stints for the Blue Jays this season, totalling 43 games.