Take solace anxious Blue Jays fans.
Although it’s been a relatively quiet off-season to date for your club and Alex Anthopoulos’ early December "payroll parameters" talk was akin to a letter from Santa warning you he might not be able to deliver all the items on your list this year, all is not lost.
There are still seven weeks before pitchers and catchers report to Dunedin and when it comes to off-season dealing, some pretty significant moves in franchise history have occurred post-Christmas.
For example:
Dec. 27, 2005
Blue Jays trade Miguel Batista and Orlando Hudson to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Troy Glaus and Sergio Santos.
Lowdown: Yes, that Sergio Santos, though back then he was still an infielder. On the heels of the B.J. Ryan and A.J. Burnett signings earlier that month and the acquisiton of Lyle Overbay in a separate trade, this deal capped off perhaps J.P. Ricciardi’s most productive month as Blue Jays GM. Glaus had a strong 2006 with 38 home runs and a .868 OPS helping the Jays to 86 wins, but injuries limited him to 115 games the following season before he was dealt to St. Louis for Scott Rolen two winters later.
Dec. 28, 2002
Blue Jays sign utilityman Frank Catalanotto as a free agent.
Lowdown: "The Cat" was one of Ricciardi’s most productive free agent signings, posting a batting line of .299/.361/.445/.806 over his four seasons in Toronto while splitting time between designated hitter, outfield and first base.
Jan. 4, 2011
Blue Jays sign Octavio Dotel as a free agent.
Lowdown: Dotel struggled to find a defined role in John Farrell’s bullpen during his lone half-season with the Blue Jays, but the 38-year-old Dominican still managed to post a solid 1.091 WHIP and strike out 30 batters in 29 innings. He later proved to be a valuable trade chip in the Colby Rasmus deal with St. Louis.
Jan. 10, 1984
Blue Jays sign Dennis Lamp as a free agent.
Lowdown: In the pre-Tom Henke era the Blue Jays were in need of a closer and then-GM Pat Gillick thought he had found his man in the 31-year-old Lamp. He was wrong. Lamp struggled in ’84, posting a 4.55 ERA and a 1.588 WHIP, but played a key role in the ’85 A.L. East division championship team going 11-0 out of the bullpen with a 3.32 ERA and 1.164 WHIP in 105 innings. But following a rough season in 1986, the Jays released him.
Jan. 12, 2005
Blue Jays trade Adam Peterson to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Shea Hillenbrand.
Lowdown: In ’05 the cantankerous Hillenbrand split his time between first, third and DH and gave the Jays decent production with 18 home runs and a line of .291/.343/.449/.792. Problems arose however the following season after Hillenbrand felt slighted by the club following the adoption of his daughter. A war of words in the media between he and Blue Jays management resulted in a trade to the San Francisco Giants, but not before Hillenbrand took some verbal swipes at teammates on his way out the door.
Jan. 14, 2001
Blue Jays trade Matt DeWitt and David Wells to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Mike Williams, Kevin Beirne, Brian Simmons and Mike Sirotka.
Lowdown: Jays fans will likely never forgive White Sox GM Kenny Williams for this one, and it probably played a significant role in the firing of then-Blue Jays GM Gord Ash later that year. At the time of the deal, the Blue Jays appeared to get a decent return on the 37-year-old Wells in the form of Sirotka-a 29-year-old lefty who had averaged 200 innings the previous three seasons. It’s just too bad Toronto didn’t know Sirotka’s shoulder was toast. Sirotka would never pitch again, and was labelled “damaged goods” by Ash, who claimed Williams did not turn over all information on Sirotka’s shoulder. Ash even appealed to MLB commissioner Bud Selig, but Selig refused to overturn the trade.
Jan. 14, 2008
Blue Jays trade Troy Glaus to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Scott Rolen.
Lowdown: A straight-up baseball swap of two all-star calibre, albeit injury-prone, third basemen. Rolen wanted to get away from Tony La Russa so badly he was willing to flee the country while Glaus and his wonky knees were desperate to get off the articifial turf in Toronto. Rolen struggled through an injury prone ’08 with the Jays but rebounded with a big ’09 at the plate and in the field before quietly asking to be dealt. Considering he was dealing with a gun to his head, Anthopoulos did well to obatin Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart from the Reds.
Jan. 21, 2011
Blue Jays trade Vernon Wells and cash to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in exchange for Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera.
Lowdown: No one believed the Jays would ever be able to unload Wells and his monstrous contract on another club, let alone in exchange for some actual value in the form of Napoli and Rivera, but after failing to sign Carl Crawford then-Angels GM Tony Reagins was ordered desperate to add a corner outfield bat to appease impatient owner Arte Moreno. When Wells flopped and the Angels missed the playoffs, Reagins was fired and new GM Jerry Dipoto was given $350 million to throw at Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson. Nobody said life was fair.
Jan. 25, 2011
Blue Jays trade Mike Napoli to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Frank Francisco and cash.
Lowdown: Yes, the Jays needed a closer and yes, they were already set behind the plate with J.P. Arencibia and Jose Molina and at first base/DH with Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion, but it’s hard to look at this deal as anything other than sheer larceny for Texas. In just 432 plate appearances in 2011, Napoli belted 30 home runs and led the A.L. champion Rangers in OPS (1.046) and WAR (5.5). Meanwhile, Francisco struggled and cursed his way to a brutal first half with a 5.92 ERA and ungodly 1.849 WHIP. Francisco was however able to parlay a second half ERA of 1.37 and 0.835 WHIP into a tidy, two-year $12 million deal with the Mets.
Feb. 4, 1998
Blue Jays sign Jose Canseco as a free agent.
Lowdown: After bidding adieu to Joe Carter and his .683 OPS in 1997, the Jays were in need of a DH to provide protection for Carlos Delgado, and at the recommendation of ace Roger Clemens, decided to take a flier on Canseco. Whether through natural or unnatural means Canseco posted a career-high 46 home runs with 29 steals while helping the Jays to 88 wins in 1998–which remains their most wins in a season since 1993.
Feb. 18, 1999
Blue Jays trade Roger Clemens to the New York Yankees in exchnage for Homer Bush, Graeme Lloyd and David Wells.
Lowdown: Following back-to-back Cy Young seasons, Roger Clemens (cough) requested a trade out of T.O. prior to the ’99 season. Considering the circumstances, Gord Ash pulled a rabbit out of his hat by acquiring an ace, a starting second basemen and a quality left-handed reliever in exchnage for Clemens. And how’s this: from ’99-’00 Wells gave the Jays 460 innings, winning 20 games in 2000 while finishing third in Cy Young voting. Clemens pitched 387 innings for the Yankees over the same two seasons but finished no higher than sixth in Cy voting (2000).