8 Blue Jays trade heists people don’t talk about enough

When it comes to trades, the Toronto Blue Jays as an organization have been heavily scrutinized for making some bad ones in recent memory. It just seemed like no matter what they do, they always ended up with the short end of the stick in the finalized deal.

Just for example, one of the most recent trades that has left a sour taste in the mouths of many Jays’ fans was the one that that sent top prospect Gabriel Moreno and fan favourite Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Daulton Varsho. Not only did Varsho struggle at the plate despite a strong defensive season, Moreno and Gurriel would end up leading the Diamondbacks right to the World Series and almost even won it all, making it quite the hard pill to swallow.

Going back even further, one of the more notable ones involved the legendary and late Roy Halladay. As perhaps one of the best pitchers to ever suit up in a Jays’ uniform, the Jays dropped the ball big time when they received an underwhelming package from the Philadelphia Phillies that included Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Travis d’Arnaud in exchange for the all-time great. Taylor was subsequently flipped to the Oakland Athletics for Brett Wallace. With the centrepiece of the package being Drabek, he ended up turning out to be a complete bust. Whereas for both Wallace and d’Arnaud, they actually developed into solid major leaguers, but with other teams. And of course, Halladay would help the Phillies go on two postseason runs, including becoming only the second pitcher ever to record a no-hitter in the postseason in the process.

But as much as it hurts to relive those painful moments, the Jays, believe it or not, have pulled off quite a bit of their own heists of other teams as well. Just as the saying goes, you win some, you lose some.

As a result, we will take a look at eight big trades that ended up heavily-favouring the Jays in the end that people don’t talk about enough. Perhaps by revisiting them now, it will help make us all feel better that the Jays actually won something for real.