Blue Jays: Grading reader-submitted trade proposals

Proposal No. 2 - Submitted by Marco Oldenbuettel on Facebook

In theory, this trade would be nice for the Jays since two young and exciting outfielders would be joining the organization.

However, I'm not convinced that A.) the Diamondbacks would deal two outfielders in the same deal or B.) that the Jays would send both Kirk and Zulueta in such a trade.

McCarthy, 25, came out of nowhere and finished fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 on the heels of a 99-game showing in which he hit eight home runs, drove in 43, stole 23 bases and posted a 118 OPS+.

Thomas, 22, had been a regular name atop the Diamondbacks' top prospects list and made his big league debut last year. In 113 games, Thomas hit eight home runs and drove in 39 but limped to the finish line with a .231 average and 76 OPS+. His bat seemed to have stalled once he made it to the majors but he looked incredible on defense.

Again, it would be cool for the Jays to land both of these players. However, the addition of Zulueta alongside Kirk is where the main disconnect would lie between the two clubs. Of course Arizona would love Zulueta but he would ultimately be too big of a piece to pair with Kirk, who would demand a significant haul just on his own.

It is also worth pointing out that the always-flawed BaseballTradeValues is the main source cited by this reader. While I love casually using that site for trade proposals, this deal is a perfect example of how flawed the system can be.

BTV has the total value going to the Blue Jays at 59.10 and the total value going to Arizona set at 62.00. I find it hard to believe that either team would be okay with this one as it currently stands.

Grade: C-