Blue Jays Right to Gamble Future on Win-Now Roster, but It Better Work

David Price and his dog Astro are on their way to Toronto, and, woof, woof, just how big is this for the Blue Jays?

Make no mistake, this could be the most important baseball trade in that city since the Jays acquired second baseman Roberto Alomar and outfielder Joe Carter from the San Diego Padres for Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff before the 1991 season.

That was an absolutely stunning blockbuster at the time, and two Toronto World Series championships later, the Blue Jays had earned the reputation as one of the game's best organizations and solidified their place in baseball history.

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

There is no telling yet whether the acquisitions of Price and Troy Tulowitzki this week will have Toronto spraying champagne in October, but credit the Jays for recognizing that their window to win is right now—and, more importantly, for acting upon it.

Not since that '93 World Series title have the Jays returned to the postseason, the longest playoff drought of any team in the four major North American professional sports.

So with an offense that has outscored every single other team in the game, and lapped half of them, the Jays pulled the trigger on the bold move they had to make Thursday, sending three prospects—including prized left-hander Daniel Norris, the consensus No. 1 prospect in their organization—to the Tigers for Price.

Yes, this had better work, because if it doesn't, Toronto's baseball drought may stretch on for decades longer. You can already hear rival teams smacking their lips in anticipation of Price hitting the free-agent market this winter, because few expect him to remain in Toronto, as my colleague Danny Knobler pointed out in the aftermath of this deal:

But this is the right time and place for general manager Alex Anthopoulos to make a bold move, and it is because of other bold moves he's already made.

Acquiring Josh Donaldson from Oakland and signing free-agent catcher Russell Martin (five years, $82 million) last winter helped change the baseball culture in Toronto and set up the Blue Jays to finally make a charge in 2015.

That's true of Martin, especially, who was the first significant free agent in years lured to Toronto by the Blue Jays.

Orlin Wagner/Associated Press

Now the Jays have the game's best offense, leading the majors with 538 runs scored (the Yankees are a distant second at 479) and posting a plus-100 run differential that is the best in the American League (easily out-ranking Houston's plus-75) and second in the majors (St. Louis is at plus-105).

Pitching is what they've needed, and needed badly. The Jays' 4.02 ERA ranks 22nd in the majors, and their rotation's 4.34 ERA ranks 23rd in the majors.

Really, as more than one scout has told me this week, the Jays needed two starting pitchers at the deadline. We'll see if they land another before Friday's 4 p.m. ET non-waiver trade deadline. If not, Marcus Stroman hopes to be back in September, and if he's right, that could be the final boost Toronto needs to either nab a wild-card slot or blow past the Yankees and win the AL East.

In light of the pitching struggles, adding Tulowitzki earlier this week was a curious move that I didn't like at all as a stand-alone move. But during the winter and at the trade deadline, it is always dangerous to judge individual moves on their own, and now, in the context of the Price trade, Tulowitzki's addition looks better. (And, it especially looks good after his knockout debut Wednesday night, when he went 3-for-5 with three RBI.)

As things stood at time of the Price deal, the Jays were 51-51, third in the AL East, seven games behind first-place New York and two games out of the second wild-card slot. Things are changing rapidly in the last hours before the trade deadline, though, and not always in terms of additions. Subtractions, too: The Yankees scratched Michael Pineda (sore elbow) on Thursday afternoon from that night's start.

No question, the Yankees are old (Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia) and vulnerable (Masahiro Tanaka's elbow, Teixeira's wrist). With pitching reinforcements, the Blue Jays have what it takes to catch them in a sprint down the stretch.

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

Now is the time. With Mark Buehrle, R.A. Dickey, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion eligible for free agency this winter, with millions locked up now in Martin and Tulowitzki, with Tulowitzki's fragile injury history and given the fact that Norris now is employed by Detroit, Toronto's now wide-open window more likely than not will slam shut quickly.

So, as Price says, let's ride:

This season started in Toronto with clear pressure on Anthopoulos, given the one-year exit plan in effect for CEO and president Paul Beeston. He's done a marvelous job in positioning the Blue Jays for big things.

It's difficult to remember (and, at this point, it's difficult to believe) that the Blue Jays led the major leagues in attendance for six seasons running, from 1989-1994, wrapping around those wonderful back-to-back World Series titles.

As Price and Tulowitzki begin their ride together north of the border, the Blue Jays currently rank 20th in the majors in attendance.

There hasn't been much to watch there for years. Now there is.

Let the stretch-run ride begin.

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

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