Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins expects newcomer Daulton Varsho to spend most of his time playing left field in 2023.
Atkins spoke to reporters on Saturday, less than 24 hours after acquiring the left-handed hitting Varsho in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks for catching prospect Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
“The impact he’s going to have on our team is going to be on every side of the ball, the base-running impact, the speed, the versatility, elite defence, and the fact he can also catch for us is about as good a fit as we possibly could have found,” Atkins said. “It is the ideal fit for this roster and one we are very excited about.”
Varsho did not play any left field for the Diamondbacks last year. He started 61 games in right field, 42 in centre, 18 as a catcher and 15 as a designated hitter.
Atkins said Varsho also could be an option as a catcher behind Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk.
George Springer and Kevin Kiermaier figure to be Toronto’s other primary outfielders.
“From a personality and teammate standpoint, he is a hard-nosed gamer that loves the process, loves the work,” Atkins said of Varsho.
A defensively gifted player, Varsho gets exceptional reads on fly balls and chases them down with highlight-reel diving catches. In 2022, he led all MLB outfielders with 18 outs above average and at age 26 he’s still very much in his prime.
“It would be hard for him to be better as a defender,” Atkins said.
Both outgoing players were international signing success stories for the Blue Jays. Signed out of Cuba in November of 2016, Gurriel Jr. batted .285/.329/.468 in five seasons with Toronto – good for an OPS+ of 117. Like Gurriel Jr., Moreno was also signed as an infielder before converting to catcher. A lifetime .310 hitter in the minor leagues, he now ranks among the game’s top prospects at age 22.
Varsho hit 27 home runs last year on his way to a .235/.302/.443 batting line in a career-high 592 plate appearances. A left-handed hitter, Varsho strikes out more than average (24.5 per cent strikeout rate) while also finding more barrels than average (10.2 per cent barrel rate).
“To acquire a player of this calibre, one of the better players in the game last year, you’re going to have to be uncomfortable. Including Lourdes Gurriel in the deal was difficult for us but necessary from their end,” Atkins said.
Atkins said the Blue Jays took calls for potential deals on all three of their catchers.
“I’ve never been in a situation like his, where we had so much interest in all of the catchers. Every single catcher had significant interest from every team,” Atkins said. “That put is in a strong position to look for a more ideal fit and not just a good value deal. We were able to do it.”
Atkins said the Blue Jays feel they have made major strides in run prevention by adding Varsho and Kiermaier. The Blue Jays also signed a right-handed starter in Chris Bassitt as they look to take another step after losing in the wild-card round this year.
“I think our heavy lifting is done. But certainly not ruling anything out and would expect some incremental improvements,” Atkins said.