Who did the Blue Jays trade away for Paul DeJong?

Michael Fisher

St. Louis Cardinals v Chicago Cubs / Jamie Sabau/GettyImages

The Toronto Blue Jays continue adding to their roster before the MLB trade deadline, trading for shortstop Paul DeJong and cash considerations in yet another deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. As an obvious fill-in for the injured Bo Bichette, DeJong will help fill the gap between second and third for as long as Bichette is off the field.

In return, the Blue Jays have sent minor league relief pitcher Matt Svanson to the Cardinals for the soon-to-be 30-year-old infielder.

The move comes one day after the organization promoted Svanson, 24, to Double-A New Hampshire. He had most recently been pitching for the Vancouver Canadians in High-A ball after beginning the season with a brief stay in Low-A Dunedin.

Originally drafted by the Jays in 2021 in the 13th round, Svanson has a 4-1 record, with six saves and two holds in 24 appearances for the Canadians this season. With a 1.11 ERA and 0.93 WHIP, the 6-foot-5 right-hander has been an effective weapon out of the bullpen between Dunedin and Vancouver.

Through an ideal combination of a high groundball rate (56.3 percent) and a high strikeout rate (31.3 percent), Svanson has kept the ball in the yard, allowing zero home runs and only four earned runs against him this season. He has racked up 39 strikeouts in 32 1/3 innings between Low-A and High-A.

Last season, in 28 games between Dunedin and Vancouver, Svanson pitched to an 8-5 record with a 4.15 ERA, a 1.28 WHIP and 83 strikeouts in 82 1/3 innings. He made nine starts in Dunedin but ended up back in the bullpen once he joined the Canadians.

While Svanson never got to pitch in Double-A with the Fisher Cats, he will get his chance in the Cardinals organization. He has been assigned and will report to St. Louis' Double-A affiliate, the Springfield Cardinals.

Michael Fisher

Michael Fisher is the editor at That Ball's Outta Here on the FanSided network, a position he has held since September 2023. He has written over 500 articles for That Ball’s Outta Here. He has been a baseball fan since 1990 and became a Philadelphia Phillies fan in the early 2000s. Michael has been writing for FanSided since 2022 when he started as a writer at Jays Journal. He also spent over a year writing about MLB at FanSided.com. Michael enjoys camping and playing tennis and badminton in his free time.