The Toronto Blue Jays ended yet another chapter in the franchise’s history book this week.
Starting pitchers Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez were among those dealt ahead of the 2019 MLB Trade Deadline as the Blue Jays continue their roster reconstruction.
Three days after the Blue Jays sent Stroman to the New York Mets for 24-year-old lefty Anthony Kay and 18-year-old righty Simeon Woods-Richardson, Sanchez and reliever Joe Biagini were included in a package that went to the Houston Astros for minor-league outfielder Derek Fisher.
The Astros are now considered World Series favourites, so here’s how some media south of the border have reacted to the team acquiring Sanchez plus other deadline moves:
Sanchez, Biagini much more than rental players – Houston Chronicle
Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow told reporters Wednesday he and his staff had been interested in both Sanchez and Biagini “for a long time” before the deal was consummated.
One element of the deal Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle pointed out is that it isn’t a rental player situation. The Astros have six pitchers slated to become free agents in the winter, including Gerrit Cole, but both Sanchez and Biagini are under control beyond the 2019 season.
They also bring a slightly different element to the mound than most other Astros pitchers, as Rome explained.
“Both Blue Jays throw primarily sinkers — the antithesis of the Astros’ four-seam fastball and curveball approach — but how or if Houston will alter their repertoires remains to be seen.
“On the surface, Sanchez’s acquisition seems curious. His 14 losses lead the major leagues. His 6.07 ERA is the worst among the sport’s qualified starting pitchers. Sanchez did strike out 10 Rays in 5 2/3 innings of four-run ball during his last start.
“Sanchez’s curveball does carry a superior spin rate, one of the Astros’ most sought after qualities. It sits at an average of 2,875 revolutions per minute. Gerrit Cole’s is 2,903, for reference, and Ryan Pressly’s is a major league-best 3,299.
“The 27-year-old Sanchez, who in 2016 went 15-2 with an AL-best 3.00 ERA, will “ideally” slot into the Astros’ starting rotation next season, Luhnow said, but his role this season is still to be determined. The general manager said Sanchez is a candidate to start Saturday against the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Park.”
Could Houston use Sanchez more as power reliever? – ESPN
The Astros were at the top of many (if not all) winners/losers columns after the trade deadline had passed, including David Schoenfield’s recap, and it wasn’t merely because they landed ace Zack Greinke.
“Don’t undersell the addition of Sanchez, who hasn’t been able to replicate his 2016 season, when he led the American League in ERA. As Buster Olney said, he looks like the perfect science project for Houston’s analytics department, maybe as a power reliever (he’s under team control through 2020). Man, I would hate to be one of the four other AL West teams.”
Keith Law and Jeff Passan elaborated on this point, with Law describing Sanchez as “a perfect change-of-scenery candidate” and adding he’d be surprised if Sanchez was used as a starter in Houston — at least for the rest of this season.
Law: “He’s had problems with his delivery going on for several years now. He’s still got huge sink on that fastball but the pitch has been completely ineffective for him this year as a starter. … He could definitely help them out of the bullpen now and then they could take the off-season and then say ‘we want to rework your delivery, try to get you back into the rotation for 2020.’”
Passan: “All you need in the playoffs, theoretically, is Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke, and remember they’ve got Wade Miley too who’s been really good this year. And, a number of teams were looking at Aaron Sanchez as that two-inning power relief type.”
Houston might end up being ideal landing spot for Sanchez – FanGraphs
For any pensive Astros fans out there concerned whether or not Sanchez’s struggles will follow him to his new city, Devan Fink of FanGraphs provides some optimism.
“Sanchez will certainly provide depth in the Astros’ rotation, but there is the potential for him to be much more than that. He is now three years removed from his last significant run of success, having battled a combination of injuries and ineffectiveness since 2016. But what remains encouraging about the 27-year-old Sanchez, despite his abysmal 2019 performance, are his underlying metrics. He still possesses a good fastball, though it is currently a few ticks below of what it was pre-injuries. More intriguing is his curveball. The spin rate on the pitch ranks in the 94th percentile, and hitters have been held to just a .273 wOBA (.234 xwOBA) against it, all while whiffing on 37 per cent of swings.
“For Houston, the hope is that the coaching staff will be able to leverage Sanchez’s excellent curveball into tangible on-field results. They’ve done it before — it’s worth noting that both Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander feature curveballs with high spin. Sanchez was perhaps the prime change-of-scenery candidate at the 2019 trade deadline, and there’s hardly a better situation in which to land than in Houston.”
Could Blue Jays have gotten more for Stroman? – The Athletic
Some felt Toronto could have gotten more in return for Stroman, a 2019 All-Star, and Dan Hayes of The Athletic writes the Minnesota Twins might have been willing to offer the Jays more than what they accepted from the Mets.
“Stroman was the first target and sources indicated the Twins were disappointed when Toronto didn’t give them a chance to match an offer they believed they could have outdone. The Blue Jays were rebuffed when they originally asked the Twins for either of their top prospects, Royce Lewis or Alex Kirilloff, and never called back before accepting a deal for two New York Mets pitching prospects.”
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