Was it really that bad? Revisiting the contentious Blue Jays-Diamondbacks trade

For as long as they remain with their respective teams, every time the Toronto Blue Jays play the Arizona Diamondbacks, a certain trade is bound to come up. That trade is the one that saw the Blue Jays acquire Daulton Varsho from the Diamondbacks in exchange for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno. It only happened two off-seasons ago but it already feels like there have been so many twists and turns in the story - with maybe no clear winner to this point.

But with the D-Backs in town for a three-game series, and the Blue Jays on a hot streak – it’s a great time to look back at why the deal happened, and examine how it’s impacted both teams.

Was it really that bad? Revisiting the contentious Blue Jays-Diamondbacks trade

Sloppiness and handedness

No, it’s not remotely fun to revisit the events of October 8 2022, but it was a time when the Toronto Blue Jays were perceived to have enough pitching and power to make a deep run in the postseason. Unfortunately, they met a Seattle Mariners team during the AL Wild Card series who were good enough to expose Toronto's two fatal flaws.

First, their outfield included an aging George Springer in centre, two beloved but defensively challenged corner outfielders, and an average defender in Bo Bichette at shortstop. Not to mention they sported a leaky bullpen behind closer Jordan Romano. This couldn’t have been illustrated any better (or worse in this case) than it ultimately was: the Mariners overcoming an 8-1 deficit – tying the game on a blooper that would see Bichette and Springer violently collide and collapse as the M’s tied the game – going on to win 10-9.

But it wasn’t just the defence – while the Jays had an enviable lineup of gifted bats, they were almost entirely right-handed, and needed some more weapons in the bullpen. So, nearly two months after that heartbreaking collapse, General Manager Ross Atkins dealt beloved slugger Teoscar Hernandez to the Mariners for Erik Swanson, before pulling the trigger on the D-Backs deal a month later. They also dealt righty Randal Grichuk for lefty Raimel Tapia in a move that really felt like it was only done to force a lefty somewhere in the lineup.

The immediate aftermath

…probably couldn’t be worse, from a Jays perspective.

Varsho was acquired with the reputation of a powerful bat, solid defence, and the ability to catch, which would soften the blow of losing Moreno. But Varsho never went behind the dish, and was exclusively used in left field to make way for Kevin Kiermaier. He also struggled to provide the kind of lineup protection that the Jays needed after losing both Hernandez and Gurriel. Varsho would finish with 20 homers and a .674 OPS in 158 games as the team would go on to flame out in a very forgettable Wild Card series against the Twins.

Gurriel would go on to set career highs for games played, home runs, and total bases, while Moreno was worth 4.3 bWAR in his first season as a starter while winning a Gold Glove. Adding insult to injury, both would be key contributors as the D-Backs made it to the World Series before falling in five to the Rangers.

The predictable correction

Of course, it was never going to stay that lopsided. While Varsho’s raw offensive numbers didn’t improve a whole lot in 2024, his true value would be realized once Kiermaier was dealt to the Dodgers before the deadline – providing elite defence in centre field. This season, in limited time disrupted by two separate stints on the IL, he’s got eight homers in just 24 games - on pace for a very unrealistic (but fun to imagine) 54 dingers over 162 games.

Gurriel’s numbers dipped in 2024, but have been about on par with what they’ve been throughout his career. Meanwhile, Moreno has put up respectable, if unspectacular numbers while being hampered by injuries over the past two seasons. At just 25 years old, he’s barely tapped into his ultimate potential, and could still become one of the game’s best catchers.

So....was it really that bad?

In the five decades of Blue Jays baseball, there have been moves that have been way worse than this one. Like trading David Wells to the White Sox for Mike Sirotka, a mid-rotation starter who’d go on to never pitch in the majors again due to injuries. How about trading elite Rangers mainstay Michael Young for Esteban Loaiza? Or Shannon Stewart for Bobby Kielty? Or Paul Quantrill for Luke Prokopec? Ultimately, the Varsho trade wasn’t even the worst of the 2022 off-season. That honour goes to the trade that sent a beloved clean-up hitter to the Mariners for a middle reliever.

But given that Varsho’s now got injury problems of his own, and that all three players still have plenty to give, we’ll probably have to wait a few more seasons to reach a proper conclusion.