Jimcanuck

Badler's take: The Blue Jays and Rockies swapped outfielders, with Randal Grichuk going to Colorado and Raimel Tapia heading to Toronto. The deal has significant upside for the Blue Jays, who were able to pry away a potential breakout prospect from the lower levels of the Rockies' system in Adrian Pinto. BLUE JAYS ACQUIRE Adrian Pinto, 2B/SS Age: 19 At 5-foot-6, Pinto is small, but he has an exciting blend of tools and performance. Ranked as the No. 60 international signing from the 2019 class after he signed out of Venezuela, Pinto made his pro debut last year in the Dominican Summer League and hit .360/.486/.543 in 54 games, ranking second in the league in batting average and on-base percentage, while his slugging average ranked fourth. He walked (38) more than twice as often as he struck out (18) and led the league in stolen bases with 41 in 49 tries. Pinto's swing is quick and direct. He has a small strike zone that he uses to his advantage, recognizing pitches well and using excellent hand-eye coordination that leads to a high contact rate. Pinto has some sneaky juice for his size, but his offensive game is centered around getting on base with below-average power. His plus-plus speed is another weapon, as is his plus arm. He spent most of his time last year at second base, with time at shortstop and center field as well, although he likely fits best at second. Raimel Tapia, OF Age: 28 The Blue Jays are set up well in the outfield between Teoscar Hernandez, George Springer and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., so Tapia provides the team with a solid outfielder off the bench and a lefty to complement those righthanded bats. He has some center field experience but has primarily played left field, posting 1.0 WAR last year (per Baseball-Reference) while hitting .273/.327/.372 in 533 plate appearances. ROCKIES ACQUIRE Randal Grichuk, OF Age: 30 Grichuk lacks plate discipline but does drive the ball with impact, creating a high-power, low-OBP hitter who hit .241/.281/.423 in 545 plate appearances last year, good for a 0.8 WAR season split between center and right field. The shape of Grichuk's and Tapia's skill sets are different, but their overall projected value this year is similar, with both scheduled to hit free agency after the 2023 season. Given that the Rockies project to be one of the worst teams in baseball this year, it's strange to see them give up a prospect like Pinto to make that swap.

But Panik's a vetrin

Says the snitch himself!

Tapia is Dominican, a nice addition to the clique Grichuk was gonna be sitting on the bench a lot and the trade probably solved what would have been a clubhouse issue Now Kirk is not sharing DH with Grichuk Plus saving some $$. Overall, the trade is a wash

Aren't we all?

C'mon man, be equitable.

a wash but Grichuk gonna hit 40 dingers playing Coors and its gonna look bad

^ not a league average bat, also is barely average defensively at this point Also his nose could break Bichette

Grichuk did hit a shitload of flyballs deep into the OF last year. Those balls carry out of the park in Coors.

Yes, but Tapia has no options and not sure they want to run with 5 OF Maybe Teo or Gurriel for an equivalent value OF that is average or better in CF

Neutral on this deal - Grichuk for all his faults > Tapia. May have been more of clubhouse move because Grichuk would have spent a lot of time on the bench. What this move does do is put Kirk as the primary DH

It's not new, is actually better now than it was in the past

Meh, you can find a weakness, or potential weakness on any team. What you look at is the total package. And in this regard, the Jays are near the top of MLB. Also, bullpen is the easiest to upgrade in-season.

Check your PMs

Kirk has more trade value than Grichuk, makes more sense to give Kirk plenty of ABs and maybe he returns some good pieces at the deadline

Jim is here.

Pitchers like Berrios don't care about ST results. Just want to get the reps in. He's probably working on some things, and doesn't care if he gets hit.

Make extra innings 4 outs instead of 3!

Close but never over.

If you asked the question a year ago, probably the 2nd grouping easily. Just goes to show the year to year volatility of the game. Considering recent and career results for these players, its now a toss up.

My post was clearly not serious. If McGuire has been so GOOD, we should be able to get some value back for him. Not holding my breath.

The Jays have clearly made an internal assessment that Chapman is going to beast this year.

Ah ok and that I totally agree with

Baseball is not cricket.

I may have been too negative about Randy. Looking at his stats page, the .266 BABIP in 2019 and 2021 stands out, against his .290 career BABIP. So maybe he's normally an average hitter or slightly above.