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Toronto Blue Jays: The heist which brought Teoscar Hernandez to town

By James Simmons

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 30: Teoscar Hernandez #37 of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrates after hitting a home run in the eighth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 30, 2020 in Washington, DC, United States. The Blue Jays played as the home team due to their stadium situation and the Canadian governmentÕs policy on COVID-19. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 30: Teoscar Hernandez #37 of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrates after hitting a home run in the eighth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 30, 2020 in Washington, DC, United States. The Blue Jays played as the home team due to their stadium situation and the Canadian governmentÕs policy on COVID-19. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) /
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As Teoscar Hernandez continues his hot streak to start the year, we look back at the trade which landed him with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The current Major League leader in home runs, and American League leader in stolen bases resides north of the border. Well, the name across his chest is north of the border, his home stadium however will be south of the border, once the Toronto Blue Jays finally play a “home game”. Teoscar Hernandez is one of the hottest hitters in the league right now, and he was basically gifted to the Jays at the trade deadline a few years ago.

The 2017 Houston Astros were looking to add a reliever for the stretch run as well as unload a little bit of outfield depth. Teoscar Hernandez was blocked at the big league level and deemed expendable, so along with Nori Aoki he went north in a trade which saw the Astros acquire pitcher Francisco Liriano.

While the Astros trash-can banged their way to the World Series, Liriano was not a huge piece of the puzzle. He went 0-2 with a four-something earned run average during the regular season and pitched just 2.1 innings combined in three rounds of playoffs.

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Liriano was gone at the end of the year, signing as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers.

Hernandez on the other hand was thrust into action right away, which helped groom him for the hitter he has become today.

While he struck out too much in 2018 and 2019, Hernandez started to develop the power stroke needed to offset the unproductive outs he was piling up.

Now, at age 27, Hernandez is a key part of the Blue Jays youth movement and has come out of the gate swinging. His four home runs lead the majors, and have come via two-two home run games.

His 23 total bases also lead the league and through seven games Hernandez is hitting at an impressive .321 clip.

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Some will argue the trade benefited both teams as Liriano “helped” the Astros get a World Series ring. The Jays were the true winners of this trade as Teoscar Hernandez is still contributing and is primed to put up big numbers in this shortened season.

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