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

May 15, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays president Mark A. Shapiro and Toronto Blue
May 15, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays president Mark A. Shapiro and Toronto Blue | Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
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3. Trading Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. for Daulton Varsho

The early returns on this December 23, 2022 trade of Moreno and Gurriel Jr., for Varsho do not look great. Gurriel Jr., and Moreno have combined for a bWAR of 3.4 so far in 2023 to help propel the Diamondbacks into first placed ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West.

While Varsho has played some great outfield defense, with a total defensive runs saved above average (DRS) of +9, he’s struggled at the plate and has been exposed on high fastballs. His slash line of .216/.286/.394/.680 adds up to an OPS+ of 95, below league-average.

The 23-year old Moreno certainly looks like he could be a core piece for Arizona for the next decade or more, and his ability to throw out base runners with one of the best “pop times” of any catcher in MLB is a skill that’s been sorely lacking for Toronto this year. He ranks 6th overall in MLB at 1.89 seconds on pop time to 2B. In contrast, Danny Jansen ranks 36th at 1.98 seconds, and Alejandro Kirk ranks 40th at 1.99 seconds, and the Blue Jays have allowed almost one stolen base per game to rank 28th overall on that metric.

And in his contract walk year, Gurriel Jr., is second on the Diamondbacks with in OPS+ at 147, with 9 home runs and 35 RBIs to go with a slash line of .310/.359/.550/.909, and a DRS in LF of +2.

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