This former Blue Jays’ signing shows off front office’s fleece

On July 6, 2021, the Toronto Blue Jays’ front office made the decision to trade Rowdy Tellez to the Milwaukee Brewers in a trade that was just as much about the future as it was the present. 

While Tellez boasted eye-popping power and the potential to be an everyday major leaguer, Ross Atkins and co. decided it was worth it to risk him developing that power somewhere (in large due to his redundancy on the roster thanks to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) and traded him to Milwaukee in exchange for Trevor Richards and Bowden Francis.

That move looks more and more like a masterclass as the days go on thanks to Francis’ development and Tellez’s fall off since. 

The 29-year-old left Milwaukee after 2023 and spent a season with the Pirates before having a quiet free agency that recently ended when he signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners (per the New York Post’s Jon Heyman), while Francis seems poised to have a breakout season in the Blue Jays' rotation.

Bowden Francis is making the Blue Jays’ trade of Rowdy Tellez look better by the day 

It wasn’t always like this when it comes to Toronto's relationship with Tellez. Tellez, who Toronto picked in the 30th round of the MLB Draft in 2013, burst onto the MLB scene in 2018 by recording 12 total bosses across his first three MLB games, before hitting .314 with four home runs in 23 MLB games in 2018. He ended up becoming the first player in Blue Jays history to record 13 home runs through his first 65 games with the franchise.

While he hit 21 home runs in 2019 (making him the fourth rookie in Blue Jays history to record a 20 homer season), he also only hit .227 with 116 strikeouts — stats that showed his limitations in the batter’s box. 

He bounced back a bit in 2020 (.283/.346/.886, eight home runs, 32 RBI) before regressing in 2021. That regression led to Toronto optioning him to Triple-A that June, which ended up being the end of his time with the Blue Jays.

“When I got optioned I told [Ross Atkins] ‘Hey, I love my organization, I love my team, I love everything about it here. But at some point I want to further my career,’” Tellez said in 2022, per Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling.

Tellez eventually furthered his career through that aforementioned trade with the Brewers, where he mashed 35 home runs in 2022 and began to look like one of the best first baseman in baseball.

That proved to be a mirage. Tellez only hit 13 home runs in 2023, which led to Milwaukee letting him walk in free agency. He subsequently signed a one year deal with the PIrates, where he hit 13 home runs in 131 games before being designated for assignment when he was four at-bats away from earning a $200K bonus.

And as Tellez’s Pirates tenure was coming to an end, Francis’ career began to hit an upswing. After getting a cup of coffee with the Blue Jays in 2022 and ‘23, Francis finally got a chance to break through in 2024 and made the most of it by posting a 3.30 ERA in 103 2/3 innings. He also carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning twice.

While Richards never ended up being much of anything in this time in Toronto (4.75 ERA in 221 2/3 innings) Francis has the inside track to get the No. 5 spot in the Blue Jays’ rotation, is great at limiting hard contact and won’t be a free agent until 2030. 

The Blue Jays front office has earned some justified criticism this offseason due to its failure to sign impact free agents and its apparent bungling of Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s extension, but it still doesn't take away from the fact they continue to get major league returns for a player acquired for a guy who might start this year in the minor leagues.