Yankees’ failed Kevin Gausman pursuit proves Blue Jays made the right deadline call

Watching Kevin Gausman move on at the trade deadline brought on a wave of mixd emotions for fans of the Toronto Blue Jays. Many understood the position the team found itself in and with Gausman's contract expiring at the end of the year, it only made sense to move him. However, it would have been a whole lot harder watching him land in the Bronx.

That possibility looks like it was at least on the table. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Yankees “even talked to the Toronto Blue Jays about right-handed starter Kevin Gausman” while trying to patch several holes before the deadline. Rosenthal also reported that New York tried for impact relievers and could have prevented Adley Rutschman from going to the Red Sox if it had been willing to part with a package that was heavy on major-league talent.

In the end, the Yankees did not land Rutschman, did not land Gausman and did not make a huge deadline move that their fans were hoping for. They did settle for some offensive help in Luis García Jr. and Heliot Ramos, with Rosenthal noting that a thin bullpen market and a depleted farm system compromised their pursuits.

At the end of the day for the Blue Jays, that might have been the best possible outcome. Not only did dealing him to the Cubs did bring back two prospects, it also kept him out of the American League East.

The Yankees are still pushing toward October, and the last thing the Blue Jays needed was to help a division rival improve its playoff chances. Even if Gausman has struggled since joining Chicago, posting a 5.14 ERA through his first five starts with the Cubs, he could just as easily be thriving in pinstripes.

And as the weeks have passed, the return from Chicago has started to look far more interesting than it did at first glance. When the trade was announced, the names Brett Bateman and Ty Southisene did not exactly set off fireworks. Gausman had been one of the better pitchers in baseball during his Toronto tenure, while Southisene was ranked as a mid-level Cubs prospect and Bateman was further down Chicago’s top-30 list. On paper, it was easy to wonder whether the Blue Jays had sold low on a respected veteran starter.

But right now, Bateman alone is making this deal look like a win for Toronto - albeit in a very small sample size. But in that sample size, Bateman has become a spark plug for the Blue Jays. He has brought contact, energy and speed to a Blue Jays lineup that spent too much of the season looking one-dimensional.

Through his first 20 games with the Blue Jays, Bateman has hit .317 with a .367 on-base percentage and a .757 OPS. He has collected 26 hits in 82 at-bats, scored 10 runs, driven in seven and stolen three bases. He's also given them a 2.9 defensive fWAR, completely upgrading their outfield defense in the process.

Blue Jays likely didn't have a player like Brett Bateman to offer Toronto for Kevin Gausman

Since Bateman’s arrival, the Blue Jays’ offence has looked more dynamic, with the club posting a .333 team on-base percentage and a .271 batting average over that stretch. After carrying a league-worst 91 wRC+ through the first 116 games, Toronto has played much closer to the type of offence it needed to be, posting a 110 wRC+ since Bateman joined the roster.

The Yankees may have had intriguing prospects it could have discussed with Toronto, but it is fair to question whether the Yankees had a Bateman-type player who could help the Blue Jays this quickly. Their higher-end Triple-A prospects are mostly pitchers, while one of their more interesting outfield names, Jace Avina, has spent the year at Double-A.

Avina has had a productive season, hitting .254/.350/.477 with 20 home runs and 15 stolen bases over 108 games, but he does not represent the same immediate big-league fit Bateman has become for Toronto. Bateman was already at Triple-A, already doing the things Toronto values, and was close enough to help almost immediately.

There's a similar story with the Southisene side of the equation. The 21-year-old middle infielder has played in 77 minor league games this season and he has hit .300/.419/.380 with 90 hits and 34 stolen bases.

Maybe the Yankees could have built a competitive offer. Maybe Toronto could have squeezed out a different prospect mix from New York. But a deal with the Yankees would have come with a bigger competitive cost. It would have strengthened a division rival, put Gausman directly into the AL playoff picture and forced the Blue Jays to watch one of their former rotation anchors help a team that they eliminated from playoff contention just one year earlier.

Instead, Gausman went to Chicago, the Yankees missed out, and the Blue Jays may have found an immediate contributor in Bateman.

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