Blue Jays deadline Exodus begins
First to go is reliever Yimi Garcia traded to Seattle
The Blue Jays well-documented, no-secret-to-anyone, trade-list of six pending free agents was reduced to five, on Friday night, as hard-throwing reliever RH Yimi Garcia was dealt to the Mariners for a pair of 22-year-old minor-leaguers. The last-place Jays, in return for Garcia, receive switch-hitting outfielder Jonathan Clase, possessed of blinding speed, with 207 stolen bases in 372 minor-league games, and catcher Jacob Sharp, a 17th round selection by the M’s in the June ’23 draft out of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Clase is the M’s 10th ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline. He moves up to seventh in the Jays’ organization.
Clase will report on option to AAA-Buffalo, while Sharp, who had been at Class-A Modesto, will head to the Jays’ equivalent level at A-Vancouver. The Jays have recalled RH Zach Pop.
Garcia, 33, was enjoying a breakout season, despite a 31-day stint on the Injury List, that just ended on July 19. In his third season with the Jays, he and RH Chad Green had unofficially been anointed co-closers by manager John Schneider, in the absence of RH Jordan Romano.
Recall that emerging from spring training, the Jays relief corps had been considered one of the deepest in baseball, with Romano, Garcia, Green, Erik Swanson, Tim Mayza and Genesis Cabrera. It was regarded as deep enough to provide high leverage relievers in various combinations, for weeks at a time, necessary to support a winning streak. However, in addition to a long list of reliever injuries, there were severe contra-performances by Mayza and Swanson. Now come the deadline deals.
“The bullpen’s one of the hardest things to do in baseball,” Garcia said, via team interpreter Tito Lebron. “Very unpredictable. Sometimes, you think you have the best arms, best bullpen, then just for whatever reason, it doesn’t work out. It’s frustrating, but that’s baseball.”
Garcia this year was 3-0, with five saves and a 2.70 in 29 games, allowing just 26 baserunners in 32 innings, with 42 strikeouts. He was used in the most difficult relief situations, no matter the inning. Righthanded hitters were 6-for-60-.100, while first batters faced were 1-for-29 and he allowed none of his 12 inherited runners to score. Scheduled for free agency with six-plus years of service at season’s end, the Dominican native had several times touched 100 mph for the first time in his career.
“The only thing I can control is going about my job and whatever happens, happens,” Garcia said. “It’s a long season. A lot of things happen. It’s mixed emotions. I’m very happy I’m going to the Mariners right now and very sad because the Blue Jays organization was first class. They treated me with a lot of respect.”
He was signed as a free agent by the Jays in 2022. Having just been notified by GM Ross Atkins less than an hour earlier, Garcia smiled when asked how long it would take him to report to the M’s, how long it would take him to pack.
“The next time you see me will be in a Seattle uniform,” Garcia said. “I don’t know when my flight is, but it will be soon. Everything is packed.”
If the implication seemed to be that Yimi was expecting the trade, at any time, you would not be wrong. For the last few weeks, as the Jays continued to slip-slide into last place in the AL East, with no signs of a renewed horsehide life, the rumours have been rampant among fans and media that, as sellers, the Jays would surely be dangling all six of their pending free agents. Other current Jays waiting for the call, perhaps with their bags already packed are LH Yusei Kikuchi, OF Kevin Kiermaier, DH Justin Turner, C Danny Jansen and RH Trevor Richards.
The MLB trade deadline is Tuesday, at 6:00 p.m, prior to a Jays game in Baltimore.