Toronto Blue Jays: The 10 worst moves by GM Ross Atkins since 2015

2. Trading Marcus Stroman for Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson

Simply put, here was another huge loss in terms of WAR deficit. Marcus Stroman was traded on July 28, 2019 with 1.5 years left on his contract, along with the optionality of extending him a Qualifying Offer after the 2020 season. He’s gone on to post a 3.20 ERA in 81 starts covering 450.1 innings since being traded for pitching prospects Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson ahead of ther July 2019 trade deadline. That’s been good for a bWAR of 10.0 since then, which the Jays could have benefitted from if they’d extended Stroman in 2019.

If we follow that trade tree, Kay posted a bWAR of 0.0 over 70.2 innings with a 5.48 ERA in Toronto before being DFA’d last December. Woods Richardson has a 6.52 ERA and -0.2 bWAR in only 9.2 MLB innings since being traded to Minnesota along with 2020 5th overall draft pick Austin Martin for starter José Berríos, who has a 1.4 bWAR in Toronto.

Martin has tumbled out of the top prospect rankings and is currently injured. We need to also consider the $7 million signing bonus the Blue Jays gave Martin as part of the transaction cost there, plus the cash considerations the Jays paid to the Mets when they dealt Stroman.

As Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote after the Jays traded Stroman, “The Mets just acquired a guy who has the fifth-best ERA in the American League (2.96) despite pitching in the AL East… And all it cost was their fourth- and sixth-best prospects in a farm system that’s considered among the worst in baseball.“