Your weekly reminder that the Blue Jays butchered the Mitch White trade last year

Don’t look now Jays fans, but former Blue Jays prospect Nick Frasso’s path to the Dodgers starting rotation was accelerated after Julio Urías was arrested and charged with felony domestic violence late Sunday night according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. Urías was placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball on Wednesday.

The 24-year old Frasso has looked dominant in two starts for the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate, the Oklahoma City Dodgers, with a 2.31 ERA over 11.2 innings, a .209 opponents’ batting average and 1.03 WHIP. Overall this season, including 21 starts for the AA Tulsa Drillers, Frasso has a 3.69 ERA in 85.1 innings with 100 strikeouts and 27 walks, an opponents’ batting average of .238 and 1.22 WHIP.

The 6’5”, 200 lb righty made his last start September 1st at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark at home against the Rangers AAA-affilate, the Round Rock Express. That lined him up perfectly to take Urías’ place in the Dodgers rotation on Thursday in Miami given they both last pitched on September 1st; however, Ryan Pepiot has been recalled and will make the start instead.

Frasso has rocketed up the Dodger’s prospect rankings since the ill-fated 2022 trade deadline that sent him and young, 6’5” lefty flamethrower Moises Brito to the Dodgers for swingman Mitch White and infield prospect Alex De Jesus. He’s now MLB Pipeline’s 68th overall prospect and was named PCL Pitcher of the Week for his six shutout inning performance in his Triple-A debut on August 27th.

He’s also now the Dodgers' 4th ranked prospect overall and top pitching prospect after Bobby Miller’s promotion. He’s pitched at least 5 innings in 4 of his last 6 starts, and features a sinker up to 97mph with a slider that touches 93mph, with both pitches in the strike zone over 50% of the time.

The scouting grade on Frasso’s fastball is 75, and scouts note that he “can devastate hitters with his heater, which sits at 95-97 mph, touches 100 and plays even better than its velocity thanks to armside run and impressive extension in his delivery.”

Meanwhile, Mitch White was quietly designated for assignment by Toronto on July 30th, but then outrighted to Triple-A on August 4th when none of the other 29 MLB teams claimed him off waivers. In 6 starts for Buffalo since then, he’s 1-1 with a 4.58 ERA and 1.58 WHIP over 19.2 innings. His 4-seam fastball only averages 94mph, which he mixes with an 88mph slider.

While Frasso’s contract has yet to be selected to the Dodgers 40-man roster, Urías was placed on MLB’s restricted list Wednesday after his second arrest on domestic violence charges, with the Dodgers announcing Ryan Pepiot as their starter in his place on Thursday. He last started against Arizona on August 30th, and threw five scoreless innings, allowing only two hits in a 7-0 Dodgers win.

Regardless, it looks like the Mitch White trade could haunt Jays fans for years to come. They traded two tall, young flamethrowers for an out-of-minor league options White, in what appears to have been excellent 40-man roster management by LA’s front office. As MLB pipeline notes, “Contenders don't often acquire quality prospects at the Trade Deadline, but the Dodgers did just that last August.”