Alex Anthopoulos is continuing his revamping of the Toronto Blue Jays by trading star shortstop Alex Gonzalez to the Braves along with Tim Collins and Tyler Pastornicky in exchange for Jo-Jo Reyes and Yunel Escobar.
This is a great deal for the Blue Jays, as they get a player who is steadily improving defensively in Yunel Escobar while is very solid at the plate (somewhat rare for a SS). Anthopoulos thinks he’s a great player and took the risk of acquiring him because great players are impossible to acquire if they’re playing well (I wonder if Matt Cain is available).
The thing to note here is the Blue Jays are getting a SS who normally does very well at the plate, and they are trading a defensive minded SS who did not bat well until this year. So if this year is the outlier for both of them, Toronto wins big as they also get a player who will be with the Blue Jays for a long time (he is arbitration eligible for several years).
Pastornicky is a mid-level prospect, so they didn’t appear to give up too much there. Collins, on the other hand, is a great player who had to be included in this trade. Otherwise, Atlanta would not have done it.
Reyes is also another prospect that I would call mid-level. Don’t expect much from him though he may be able to do well. He has an ERA of 5.70 in AAA so we optioned him to AA New Hampshire.
I think the Blue Jays won big here; in fact, without Cito Gaston’s tutelage, I doubt Gonzalez does as well as he did this year. I do, however, expect Escobar to turn it around. As for the prospects, the Braves get better, but in the end I would say the Blue Jays won this trade.
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