The Toronto Blue Jays acquired Jason Grilli from the Atlanta Braves to help bolster their struggling bullpen.
The Toronto Blue Jays, off to a 28-26 start and in third place in the AL East, are looking to bolster their bullpen for the stretch run. On Tuesday afternoon, the Atlanta Braves traded 39-year-old reliever Jason Grilli to the Blue Jays for pitching prospect Sean Ratcliffe.
Sources: #BlueJays acquire Jason Grilli.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) May 31, 2016
Last July, there was serious concern whether Jason Grilli would ever be able to pitch again. Grilli’s 2015 season came to a sudden halt as he tore his left Achilles tendon on July 11.
Grilli has been able to work his way back this season, but had not gotten off to the best start. He owns a 5.29 ERA and a 4.40 FIP in 17 innings of work. His 28.4 strikeout percentage has been impressive, but his overall line has been brought down by a 16.1 walk percentage.
Grilli was having the best season of his career last year with a 2.94 ERA and a 2.12 FIP in 33.2 innings of work. He was well on pace to surpass the 1.6 fWAR he posted in 2013 with the Pittsburgh Pirates before the injury ended his season.
If the Blue Jays can have Grilli turn his season around and pitch like last season’s version of himself, he will be a huge boon for a Jays bullpen that has been the team’s weakness thus far in 2016.
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Grilli will join a Blue Jays pen that has struggled this year. Jays relievers have posted a 3.89 ERA and a 4.35 FIP in 134.1 innings of work as of May 30th. Their bullpen ERA ranks 16th in baseball and their FIP 23rd in baseball.
With the Braves covering $2,175,000 of the $2,371,585 remaining on Grilli’s contract this season, the Jays’ investment in Grilli will not be very large.
Grilli also has a team option for $3 million for the 2017 season with a $250,000 buyout.
Grilli is expected to join the Blue Jays on Wednesday and could be available to pitch immediately if needed by the team. He thanked Atlanta fans on his Twitter account shortly after the trade.
From the bottom of my heart...thank you.https://t.co/v0v2h9cc6d pic.twitter.com/7H1QtcZEZD
— Jason Grilli (@GrillCheese49) May 31, 2016
For the Atlanta Braves, the trade continues the franchise’s trend of building for the future. Grilli is another veteran that the team will move on from to add to their prospect well.
Atlanta’s 15-35 record was tied with the Minnesota Twins for the worst record in MLB entering play on Tuesday evening.
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Sean Ratcliffe, a 21-year-old right-hander, has been pitching in extended Spring Training for the Blue Jays so far in 2016 and is expected to report to the same level for the Braves.
In 2015, Ratcliffe posted a 3.60 ERA and a 3.85 FIP in 40 innings for the Blue Jays’ Low-A team.
According to Braves general manager John Coppolella, the team wants to get a feel for the prospect before what they decide to do with him, although they like his arm:
"“We had seen him two weeks back, and our scouts who saw him thought he could help the Braves organization. We’d like to see him throw for us first and then go from there and see where he can help us.”"
This is a net positive trade for both teams. For rebuilding teams like the Braves, veteran relief pitching options are often luxuries that represent better trade value than on-field value.
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For the Blue Jays, they strike early on a market that is usually highly competitive. They do so while also getting a guy that strikes out hitters at a high rate for a relatively low price as they try to gain ground on the division-leading Boston Red Sox.