Grade the Trade: Padres trade Jedd Gyorko to the Cardinals for Jon Jay
After the conclusion of the 2015 MLB season, the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals met up in December and swapped two players. Nearly two full seasons later, it’s time to grade the trade.
Infielder Jedd Gyorko was sent to the St. Louis Cardinals and outfielder Jon Jay went to the San Diego Padres. A change of scenery did wonders for both, but one of these teams came away as the winner.
Since joining the Cardinals, Gyorko has experienced a personal renaissance. In his nearly two years with St. Louis, the former Padre developed into a true power threat. This was especially true in 2016 when he led the team with 30 home runs in only 438 plate appearances. The power numbers are still good in 2017, but not nearly as threatening as they were in his debut season with the club.
Instead of relying exclusively on home runs, this season is a more balanced one for Gyorko. His batting average is almost 30 points higher than his career total. His OBP is also significantly better than any other season in his career at about 35 points greater than what he has averaged.
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The Cardinals have to be pleasantly surprised with the productive bat that Gyorko’s has become. The Padres unwisely signed him to a contract extension prematurely which was already beginning to haunt them. Unfortunately, as part of the trade, San Diego is still paying a portion of his salary. If they could take back this trade, they probably would.
Gyorko’s performance last year and this season help make the Cardinals clear winners here. They took a risk on Gyorko and it paid off. However, there’s more to it than just that.
Jay hit free agency after the 2016 season and is now a member of the Chicago Cubs. He spent only one season with the Padres where he hit for a high average and got on base often. Though his time was limited, he produced. The Padres were also able to dump salary, which was the major goal of this trade.
The Padres did get everything out of this trade that they wanted. Fed up with Gyorko, there was no need to test him out any further. Escaping his contract was their mission and they succeeded.
For Gyorko to land in St. Louis and actually produce, it must hurt in some ways. However, it’s not as if the Padres are ready to compete now anyway. Gyorko would be nothing more than dead weight on a team looking to sell as much as possible. So, in that regard, it’s not much of a factor.
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The fact that the Padres didn’t get anything beyond 2016 for a guy who is putting up terrific numbers on offense and defense is what makes them this trade’s loser. While not failures, they earn a C- and a poor progress report.
As for the Cardinals, credit them for dealing away an outfielder they weren’t going to re-sign and landing their starting third baseman.