Toronto Blue Jays: Grading the Tapia-Grichuk trade as May dawns

On March 24, the Toronto Blue Jays and Colorado Rockies swapped outfielders, with the Blue Jays sending Randal Grichuk to Denver while Raimel Tapia was dealt to Toronto. How has the deal worked out for both teams? Let’s take a look.

Grading the trade for the Toronto Blue Jays and Colorado Rockies involving Randal Grichuk and Raimel Tapia

Why did the trade happen?

The swap was for a pair of outfielders needing to find a new home after battling for playing time through crowded outfields. Tapia, with the Rockies signing Kris Bryant in the offseason, was looking at decreased playing time in Denver, particularly with Bryant being crowned as an everyday outfielder in his new home with the Rockies. Grichuk had similar crowding issues, thanks to the Blue Jays having George Springer, Teoscar Hernández, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on the roster.

What’s the future impact?

Both players will be a part of their new teams for some time to come. For the Toronto Blue Jays, Tapia had just avoided arbitration and agreed to a a $3.95 million salary prior to the trade and is not scheduled to be a free agent until the 2024 season. Grichuk, meanwhile, has two years left on his five-year, $52 million extension and, like Tapia, won’t be a free agent until the 2024 campaign.

As part of the trade, Toronto will pay Colorado a little more than half of Grichuk’s remaining salary over the next two seasons.

How are Tapia and Grichuk doing with their new teams?

So far, the trade has worked for both Toronto and Colorado.

Entering Sunday, Grichuk has slashed .333/.388/.483 in 60 at-bats for the Rockies with a pair of home runs and 11 RBI. He has played in nine games in center field while also seeing action in right field in 12 games, allowing the Rockies to use Charlie Blackmon in a designated hitter role on occasion.

It’s a hot start at the plate for Grichuk, who is a career .232 batter in March/April games.

On defense, Grichuk has also boosting the Rockies with one of the most-viewed highlight reel catches of the 2022 season so far, robbing Corey Seager of a home run in Texas.

Tapia, meanwhile, entering Sunday, has posted a slash line of .243/.260/.329 with one home run and four RBI. He has moved around the Toronto outfield, seeing action in five games in left field, two in center field, and 12 in right field.

While Grichuk has outperformed his previous early outings at the plate this season, Tapia slightly trails his historic numbers in March and April as he has a .255 lifetime batting average in those months. Part of that could be his history at Coors Field, where he was a lifetime .317 hitter versus .241 on the road.

Tapia has brought a left-handed bat option to the Blue Jays outfield rotation, and flashed what he could do for Toronto with a 4-for-4 day at the plate last week against the Houston Astros.

What are the trade grades so far?

Tapia has provided the Blue Jays with exactly what they’ve needed from him so far this season. However, with his offensive numbers down slightly over previous seasons, we’ll give the grade a B from the Blue Jays side.

For the Rockies, Grichuk has outperformed early expectations in the field and at the plate, so they get an A-minus.

Which team won the trade? It’s far too early to tell, and there’s also the wild card of Adrian Pinto, who was traded along with Tapia to Toronto. After hitting .360 for Colorado’s Arizona Complex League team, the 19-year-old infielder was recently assigned to Low-A Dunedin. What impact will he have in the future for the Blue Jays?

Both Tapia and Grichuk have found early success in their new homes. We’ll check back in at the All-Star break to see how the grades for both teams and their new players might change.