Blue Jays continue fire sale, trade former top prospect to Cubs

The Blue Jays are continuing to send pieces from their big league roster packing, this time trading a former first-round pick and top prospect to the Chicago Cubs. On Friday, Yimi Garcia was traded to the Mariners in exchange for a pair of prospects. To read more about the return in that deal, here's the link.

According to ESPN's Jesse Rogers and Jeff Passan, reliever Nate Pearson is heading to the Cubs. Coming back to the Blue Jays is outfielder Yohendrick Pinango (H/T to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN) and shortstop Josh Rivera (H/T to Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet).

Pearson, a first-rounder from the 2017 MLB Draft, has been plagued by injuries throughout his professional career, ultimately turning into a relief pitcher instead of the frontline starter he was at one point supposed to turn into.

Prior to last season, the 6-foot-6 right-hander had never thrown over 18 innings in a season. He made 35 appearances in 2023 and had 41 this year prior to his being moved. Pearson has a 5.63 ERA and 4.62 FIP through 40 innings of work, striking out 51 batters (11.5 K/9) along the way. He had only just recently expressed an interest in returning to the starting rotation eventually, but it looks like that chance will not be coming in a Blue Jays uniform.

On the Cubs, Pearson will give them a back-end option in their 'pen to pair with long-time Phillies closer Hector Neris. Cubs relievers rank 13th in all of baseball in ERA and sixth in K/9, so this move seems to be one where they are going for more of a super-bullpen than viewing Pearson as their savior. Not so long ago, it seemed that the Cubs were going to be deadline sellers, but this deal appears to suggest otherwise.

Pinango, 22, is going to be Rule 5-eligible in the coming offseason, so he will need to be added to the Blue Jays' 40-man roster over the winter. He has an excellent eye at the plate and has put together a strong season this year between two Cubs minor league levels. In 84 games, he has 30 extra-base hits and 40 RBI with 10 stolen bases and a .797 OPS. In 29 games down in High-A, he had a .340 average and 1.061 before his promotion to Double-A, where his numbers have cooled a bit.

Rivera, 23, is hitting .169 across 68 Double-A games this season with a .537 OPS and just 10 extra-base hits. He showed some strong speed on the bases in college (where he was just one year ago) and can bounce around the infield on defense. It seems that his value is not going to lie in his bat moving forward.

Rivera ranked at No. 23 in MLB Pipeline's preseason rankings, while Pinango is a corner outfielder who was ranked at No. 29. Baseball America had him up to No. 17 in their own preseason rankings.

With a few more days until the trade deadline, the Blue Jays still have Yusei Kikuchi, Trevor Richards and Danny Jansen on-hand as rentals would could go. The Pearson deal is a bit of a surprise given his additional team control, but the Jays were clearly impressed enough by Chicago's offer to move on from the once-promising prospect.