Toronto Blue Jays to acquire Troy Tulowitzki from Colorado Rockies
The Toronto Blue Jays have reached a deal with the Colorado Rockies to acquire shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and reliever LaTroy Hawkins, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. The Blue Jays will be sending current shortstop Jose Reyes to Colorado along with Miguel Castro and two other minor league pieces.
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The All-Star shortstop is quietly having another strong season for the Rockies, hitting .305 with 12 home runs, 52 RBIs and 19 doubles. Acquiring Tulowitzki gives Toronto arguably the best left side of the infield in all of baseball, with the two-time Silver Slugger playing alongside Josh Donaldson at third base. While moving Reyes means the Blue Jays will be missing out on having all three stars in an infield that also currently has Edwin Encarnacion, Donaldson and Tulowitzki with Encarnacion and Jose Bautista now becomes arguably the best middle of a lineup in baseball as well. Rookie Devon Travis has also proved to be one of the top emerging young talents in all of baseball, so Toronto still won’t feel so bad about moving Reyes.
For Tulowitzki, the trade serves as an end to trade speculation that has surrounded him for over a year. The shortstop appeared destined to someday end up in New York, either playing for the Yankees or Mets, but the Blue Jays swept in and pulled off one of the bigger surprise trades in recent memory on Monday night acquiring the five-time All-Star.
Assuming he’s not traded again, Tulowitzki will be a fixture in Toronto for seasons to come, as he’s signed through at least 2020, with a club option for 2021. He’ll be due $20-million a season each year through 2019, with a $14-million salary in 2020 and a $15-million option in 2021 with a $4-million buyout.
The big wild card in the deal is how Tulowitzki’s health will hold up as he enters his 30’s. The 10-year veteran has missed at least 40 games four times in his career, and has only played in 140 or more games three times. He is, however, in the midst of a healthy season, and the move out of Colorado will likely help with keeping Tulowitzki off the shelf as much going forward. It’s hardly an added risk for Toronto, however, as previous shortstop Reyes was hardly a pinnacle of health.
With much of the market for higher-end starting pitching up in the air (Will the Tigers sell David Price? Will the White Sox move Jeff Samardzija?), the Blue Jays appear to have gotten impatient with it and elected to address their bullpen while also adding a controllable piece that will be around for future seasons in the event that Toronto still misses out on the playoffs this season. It’s unclear whether the trade for Tulo effects the Blue Jays’ starting pitching pursuits, butregardless, Toronto clearly got better on Monday night. And adding another bat to one of baseball’s best offensive clubs will make the Blue Jays a fun team to watch as we hit the dog days of summer.