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

Blue Jays acquire Devon White, Willie Fraser, and Marcus Moore from the California Angels for Junior Félix, Luis Sojo and Ken Rivers

During the 1990-91 offseason, the Jays and the California Angels struck a deal that netted Toronto defensive wizard Devon White, with promising outfielder Junior Félix as the biggest name going the other way in a six-player swap. At the time, the Jays took a big gamble in giving up their young starting outfielder to obtain the proven defensive acumen of White. Although Félix had shown plenty of potential at the plate, he presented some deficiencies in the field with just a .966 fielding percentage.

For the Angels, Ken Rivers never ended up seeing a major league game, whereas Sojo had a more sustainable MLB career as a utility player after leaving California. For their main attraction in Félix, he would also end up leaving the Angels after two seasons after recording a career-high 72 RBI in 1992 with the club.

In contrast, White became a key cog in the Jays’ lineup in his five seasons with the ballclub. He officially gave the team a legitimate lead-off hitter that could hit for average and torment the opposition on the basepaths. On top of that, White also provided tremendous defensive stability in the outfield as exemplified by the Gold Glove Award that he won every single season with the Jays. In 656 games with Toronto, he batted .270 with 452 runs scored, 155 doubles, 34 triples, 72 home runs, 274 RBI and 126 stolen bases. In particular, he was exceptional during the Jays’ contending years in the early 1990s in helping the team to their two World Series titles. His defining moment was when he made an amazing leaping catch at the wall during Game 3 of the 1992 World Series against the Atlanta Braves that should have turned into a triple play, but was not to be. Nevertheless, it became one of the all-time magical moments to be forever etched into baseball history. Just almost that alone was enough to make the trade a 100% win for the Jays.