9 outfielders the Blue Jays should target at the trade deadline

Randal Grichuk, Colorado Rockies

Talk about reunions, wouldn’t it be great if the Jays brought back one of the fan favourites in Randal Grichuk? As one would recall, he didn’t want to leave town, but was unfortunately traded away to the Colorado Rockies in early 2022 for Raimel Tapia and prospect Adrian Pinto. At the time, the Jays already had a stacked starting outfield of George Springer, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Tesoscar Hernández, so having a starter like Grichuk riding the bench seemed unfair and at the same time redundant in the Jays’ lineup. So bringing in Tapia provided a different speed element to the Jays’ game.

After the trade, Grichuk has had a couple of decent seasons with the Rockies, which somehow mirrored his offensive output numbers that he posted with the Jays in the prior years. One would have expected his power numbers to inflate at Coors Field due to the effect on balls because of its higher elevation and semi-arid air; however, it had not been the case. For 2023, his power numbers have actually decreased even more, as he has hit only four home runs and tallied just 21 RBI in 54 games, although he has hit for a better average (.294) compared to his career standard (.250).

But perhaps moving back to the right environment, one could expect Grichuk to reproduce his usual 20-homer, 65-RBI average output, and for the Jays, that would be more than enough for a bench power bat who can also make spot starts in the outfield for the ballclub when called upon, along with perhaps platooning with Brandon Belt at the DH spot. One thing is for sure, at least he will have a greater chance to make the postseason again than where he is at now.