TORONTO – To describe the uncharacteristic acquisition of David Price as the Toronto Blue Jays going all-in on 2015 would be an examination of the transaction through the wrong lens. As much as this is a push forward, it’s also a decision not to push back the window for contention, to not wait for kids groomed to be the cornerstones of a competitive future to factor on the big-league club.
Semantics? Maybe, but the Blue Jays of 2016 and beyond were going to be built around cheap, controllable starting pitching. Going back to the Josh Donaldson deal in November, GM Alex Anthopoulos has now traded eight – EIGHT! – pitching prospects, including blue-chippers Jeff Hoffman and Daniel Norris, to acquire the all-star third baseman, Troy Tulowitzki and now Price.
Hoffman, Norris, Kendall Graveman, Miguel Castro and Matt Boyd were all expected to contribute in the near future. They may have timed with the current core, but probably not. The Blue Jays could have hoarded arms and waited to make their run – but that would have been deferring on legit contention.
That wouldn’t have been fair to any of the club’s stakeholders, not with the wild card comfortably within striking distance, and catching the New York Yankees for the American League East a difficult but real possibility with 13 head-to-head meetings left.
Sure, a team can wait for more ideal circumstances, but they may never come around.
"The guys in that clubhouse, they deserve it," said Anthopoulos. "They’ve played extremely well – I think we all feel like we’re better than what we’ve shown so far. And this is a move that makes the club stronger. … At this point, we’re trying to give ourselves the best opportunity to get in the playoffs."
Both the Price and Tulowitzki deals are not without risk.
To pry the all-star left-hander from the Detroit Tigers, Anthopoulos parted with Norris, Boyd and single-A Dunedin lefty Jairo Labourt. The latter two have potential but Norris is the real prize here, already installed as Sunday’s starter for the Tigers, someone with the potential to one day be a rotation’s No. 2, maybe even a one.
The same goes for Hoffman, whose introduction to talks with the Colorado Rockies opened the door for Tulowitzki’s acquisition. He would have been competing for a rotation spot as soon as next spring, while Castro, also part of the deal with Jesus Tinoco, was a bullpen candidate later this year.
Parting with so much prospect capital for five additional years of Tulowitzki, while also shedding the remaining two years on Jose Reyes’ contract, makes both short and long term sense for the Blue Jays.
It’s not a quick fix move.
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Getting Price is, and if he wasn’t in the conversation for best pitcher in the game not named Clayton Kershaw or Zack Greinke, the Blue Jays don’t pay this kind of price for a rental player.
As things stand, they’ll get 12 starts out of Price – four of them could come against the New York Yankees, depending on where he slots in – before the regular season ends, plus two months to help sell him on the merits of an extended stay in Toronto before free agency.
And unlike the Tulowitzki deal, this time they’ve addressed a glaring need, a true ace, the franchise’s first since Roy Halladay.
"What makes you a No. 1 is that consistency of performance year-in and year-out, no volatility, all those type of things. That’s why it’s so rare, that’s why there’s not that many of them, not every team has got one," said Anthopoulos. "That’s what a guy like David brings, and then with all the other elements, I think it’s going to be great for the club. There’s certainly a cost to acquiring those guys, but that certainty and probability and track record of performance, there’s something to be said about that."
There is, and the chance to get someone like Price is why Anthopoulos was so willing to use up all his remaining payroll space and a good chunk of his upper-level prospect capital, too.
Since the off-season, when he passed on roll-of-the-dice free agent signings, Anthopoulos has been holding back roughly $5-6 million for an opportunity like this one. The trade of prospects Chase De Jong and Tim Locastro to the Los Angeles Dodgers for three international spending slots totalling $1,071,300 – reducing the penalty for signing Vladimir Guerrero Jr., by the same amount – was also critical in fitting in the $7.5 million of the $19.75 million salary due Price this year.
Unlike the disappointment of last year’s near-deadline shutout, when only useful utility-man Danny Valencia was added, this summer Anthopoulos left nothing to chance.
So the Blue Jays have their ace for this year’s run, but the rotation’s future is murky beyond this season.
Along with Price, Mark Buehrle and Marco Estrada are both free agents while R.A. Dickey is under a $12 million club option for 2016 now almost certain to be exercised. Under club control for next season are Marcus Stroman, Drew Hutchison, Aaron Sanchez and Roberto Osuna, the latter two needing to be converted back to starters from relief roles.
The organization’s new top pitching prospects – like 2015 first-rounder Jon Harris, Sean Reid-Foley and Connor Greene – aren’t arriving imminently, either, so there’s a gap that needs to be filled.
The Blue Jays could have avoided that by holding onto their arms and waiting, but they’re done deferring. Living in the moment, future be damned, can be invigorating, but that feeling won’t last long if the team’s long post-season drought, playoff-free since 1993, doesn’t end and create the next buzz.