Blue Jays: Trade rumors surrounding Jays catchers finally put to rest

In what was a 2-for-1 deal, the Toronto Blue Jays have acquired outfielder Daulton Varsho from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and the club's top prospect, catcher Gabriel Moreno.

This Varsho trade addresses a couple needs for the Blue Jays. Firstly, it addresses the very clear need for a left-handed hitting outfielder on the roster. And secondly, it finally clears up the catcher logjam that this team has faced for the past couple of seasons.

For the majority of last season and almost the entirety of this offseason, the question wasn't when the club was going to trade one of its three catchers, but which one of the three catchers was going to be traded. Danny Jansen is the best out of the three defensively and has the most major league experience, Alejandro Kirk is the best of the three offensively and Gabriel Moreno had the most potential upside of the trio. It was going to be a tough pill for fans to swallow regardless of which backstop got dealt.

Many fans assumed the club's catcher surplus would be used to obtain a starting pitcher. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported that the team was "open" to trading Danny Jansen for a starter, but after the signing of Chris Bassitt last week, that was no longer imminent. Outfielder Bryan Reynolds of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who recently requested a trade, is another name that has had rumours connecting him to Toronto lately. In the end though, Daulton Varsho is the one coming north.

With the highly unusual circumstance of having three major league caliber backstops on the roster now a thing of the past, Kirk and Jansen can now focus solely on the Blue Jays and no longer have to worry about trade rumors, while Gabriel Moreno gets to go a rebuilding team in the Arizona Diamondbacks and continue to develop in the major leagues.