Ten years ago today:
The Blue Jays traded for Troy Tulowitzki.
The deal was: Tulowitzki and LaTroy Hawkins to the Rockies for Jose Reyes, Jeff Hoffman, Miguel Castro, and Jesus Tinoco.
It is one of those trades that worked at the time. Finally, we got to the playoffs. Troy hit .250/.313/.414 in 36 home runs in 238 games over three seasons for the Jays. After we released him, he signed with the Yankees and managed 13 at-bats before hitting the IL. He retired soon after.
How would his time with the Jays
have been without the terrible injury he suffered when his ankle rolled, slipping off first base (also on this day, back in 2017)? He was 32 at the time. He could have had a few more good seasons and built the raw numbers to get him close to a Hall of Fame career.
When he was healthy, he was fun to watch. The sidearm throws from short were things of beauty.
Hawkins pitched in 18 games for the Jays in 2015 and retired after the season. He had a 2.76 ERA in 16.1 innings. He didn’t have a good time in the playoffs, pitching in 3 games, 1.2 innings, and allowing 7 earned runs.
The players who went to the Rockies:
Reyes finished the season, hitting .259/.291/.368 for the Rockies. Jose got suspended at the start of the 2016 season for violating the domestic violence policy. At the end of the suspension, the Rockies released him. He signed with the Mets, had three mediocre seasons, and was let go after the 2018 season.
Hoffman was the big piece going to Denver. However, unfortunately, he didn’t live up to his potential. Jeff spent parts of six seasons there, and they traded him to the Reds. He spent two seasons with them. He’s found his way back to the Jays.
Castro did little for the Rockies, pitching in 24 games over two seasons with a 7.20 ERA. The Rockies traded him to the Orioles, and they traded him to the Mets after three and a half seasons. Since then, he’s been with the Yankees and now the White Sox. In all, he’s played 11 seasons for seven different teams. He has a 4.24 ERA in 425 games.
Tinoco has bounced around from team to team. In six seasons, he’s played for the Rockies, Marlins, Rockies again, Rangers, Cubs, and now Marlins again. He’s played in 100 games with a 3.98 ERA.
At the time, we liked the trade. Our poll was 75% liked it. 18% are neutral, and 7% hated it.
It’s tough to say if the trade was a good thing or not. We needed to get rid of Reyes, and that was the trade available, and we did make the playoffs twice. Would we have without Tulo?
The team needed to move on from Jose Reyes’ large contract, so the Jays picked up Tulo’s even larger contract. But pennants fly forever.
Six Years Ago
The Jays called up Bo Bichette.
On the same day, the Jays traded Marcus Stroman to the Mets for Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson (who, along with Austin Martin, went to the Twins for Jose Berrios).
We would have been better off keeping Marcus, but the team didn’t think they could re-sign him. And, well, Stroman’s got a big personality. Maybe the team is tired of it.
And 20 years ago.
The Jays play 18 innings to get a 2-1 win against the Angels.
Pete Walker got the win with three innings of shutout ball. Dave Bush started and went 8.1, allowing just one run. Also pitching:
- Scott Schoeneweis
- Justin Speir
- Vinne Chulk
- Jason Frasor
- Miguel Batista
The walk-off run was scored by Alex Rios, who Orlando Hudson drove in.
We had quite the lineup:
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | WPA | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russ Adams SS | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | .262 | .326 | .412 | .738 | -0.006 | |
| Frank Catalanotto LF | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | .306 | .369 | .443 | .812 | -0.332 | CS |
| Vernon Wells CF | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | .278 | .323 | .503 | .826 | 0.104 | |
| Shea Hillenbrand 1B | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | .298 | .358 | .466 | .825 | 0.091 | |
| Corey Koskie 3B | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | .245 | .313 | .411 | .724 | -0.124 | IW |
| Aaron Hill DH | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | .300 | .362 | .432 | .794 | -0.363 | SH |
| Gregg Zaun C | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | .269 | .369 | .403 | .772 | -0.437 | |
| Reed Johnson RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .277 | .344 | .450 | .793 | -0.069 | |
| Eric Hinske PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .246 | .324 | .420 | .744 | -0.060 | |
| Alex Rios RF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .285 | .334 | .424 | .758 | 0.251 | SB |
| Orlando Hudson 2B | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .272 | .325 | .416 | .741 | -0.141 | |
| Team Totals | 58 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 63 | .155 | .210 | .155 | .365 | -1.086 |
And, not Blue Jays, but 35 years ago Dennis Martinez threw a perfect game for the Expos. I remember watching it. Dave Van Horne’s call was great:
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- Bluebird Banter Top 40 Update - July 13
- Blue Jays Roster Moves: Estrada DL, Dwight Smith up
- Blue Jays mid-term report card: Grade Teoscar Hernandez’ first half
- One bad inning costs the Blue Jays
- Around The Nest - Blue Jays Minor League Podcast - Week 14
- Blue Jays mid-term report card: Grade Yangervis Solarte’s first half
