MLB Trades: Colby Rasmus Traded to Toronto Blue Jays

Early this morning (2 a.m. EST), I read the following rumour: Jason Frasor and prospect for Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen.

I thought, "Another rumour—why do we need those two guys?"

Fast forward 10 hours when I roll out of bed after receiving a tweet on my phone. It all made sense why. The Blue Jays were working on the framework that would send Jackson to the St. Louis Cardinals for Colby Rasmus.

The Blue Jays were eying Rasmus for a while and earlier this week the Cardinals talked to the White Sox about a possibility of acquiring Jackson for their young center fielder. The White Sox already have Alex Rios in center field, and that’s when I assume Toronto general manager Alex Anthopoulos decided to jump in and facilitate the trade. 

Thoughts on White Sox–Blue Jays trade

The Blue Jays sent relief pitcher Jason Frasor and starting pitcher/relief pitcher Zach Stewart to the White Sox for infielder-outfielder Teahen and starting pitcher Jackson. (I will address the Edwin Jackson part of the deal in the "Thoughts on the Cardinals–Blue Jays trade" section.)

Toronto was forced to take Teahen from the White Sox to relieve the money issues that the White Sox have put themselves into by signing Adam Dunn and—oh, yeah—taking Rios from the Jays. Now the Blue Jays did give up Stewart here, but remember its not Deck McGuire or Henderson Alvarez.

People need to remember that Stewart is 25 years old and is having a mediocre year at AA New Hampshire. I can see the White Sox converting him to a reliever and adding him to their struggling bullpen. I do believe that Stewart would have eventually wound up in the bullpen, potentially as a setup man.

Teahen, the other piece, has struggled mightily since 2007 and is under contract until the end of the 2012. He will replace Corey Patterson on the bench for the remainder of the year and can be used sparingly as a pinch hitter and as a backup third baseman and outfielder (and in a real emergency, a backup second baseman).

In essence, the Blue Jays gave up two relievers for Jackson and Teahen. It is possible that the White Sox were financially restraint and this deal could allow them to make another move now that Teahen (around $5 million) has been moved.

Thoughts on Cardinals–Blue Jays trade 

Now this is the most important part of the deal. I am absolutely stunned to what the Jays gave up to get Colby Rasmus.

The Blue Jays traded the recently acquired Jackson, relief pitcher Octavio Dotel, relief pitcher Marc Rzepczynski and outfielder Patterson for center fielder Colby Rasmus, relief pitcher P.J. Walters, relief pitcher Brian Tallet (I guess Cito Gaston was working with Anthopoulos) and relief pitcher Trever Miller.

For those of you who are not aware, Rasmus was a top 10 MLB prospect pre-2009 (along with Travis Snider). Snider and Rasmus are really similar—both are young outfielders with five-tool potentials. Unlike Snider, who has struggled in the majors, Rasmus posted some great numbers last year: .276/.361/.498 (OPS: .859) with 23 HRs and 28 doubles. In addition, Rasmus is a player who is not in AA or AAA but is a major league talent.

It looks like the Cardinals are really thinking in the short-term with this deal. They acquire Jackson, a pitcher that might walk at the end of the year, Dotel—another pitcher that can walk at the end of the year—along with Patterson.

In fact, five years down the road, the only name that might be remembered in this deal would be Rzepczynski and Rasmus.

All the Cardinals did here is acquire a right-handed specialist, a left-handed specialist, a fifth outfielder and a No. 3 starter.

What the Blue Jays got

Along with Rasmus, the Blue Jays acquired Walters, Miller and Tallet. Even if the Blue Jays go ahead and release the latter two guys, they still won this deal.

It is expected that Miller would be flipped to the White Sox and Brad Mills will be promoted to the majors as a reliever. I honestly do not mind Mills as a member of the bullpen and to be used as a LOOGY (left-handed specialist). I am not sold on Mills as a starter, but I can see him having success against left-handed hitters.

I believe that Tallet might be blocking a roster spot for a pitcher like Danny Farquhar (replacing Dotel) or Luis Perez (replacing Rzepczynski). Farquhar is a side-arm right-handed reliever with the Las Vegas 51s who I think can replace Dotel’s role.

Most of Blue Jays fans are familiar with Luis Perez, though I would rather see him as situational left-hander.

The third pitcher, Walters, is a reliever who was used as a starter in the minors. He doesn’t have over-powering stuff, but he has put up some decent numbers in the minors and he will now be given a shot in the bullpen.

Although Stewart was ranked as a top prospect coming into the year, I think the biggest lost for the Blue Jays is Rzepczynski. Like I said before, I think Stewart could have been a setup man for the Blue Jays, though the Jays have plenty of arms that one day might fill that role.

Rzepczynski did a fabulous job this year as late-inning setup man and situational lefthander. It is difficult to find pitchers like him, but maybe Perez can fill that role, given the opportunity.

One cannot complain here, as the Blue Jays essentially traded four relievers—two that are free agents at the end of the year—for a star like Rasmus. Imagine if the Blue Jays traded away Snider for Jesse Crain, Matt Thornton, Brian Bruney, Sergio Santos and Juan Pierre.

I don’t believe Anthopoulos is done dealing—I think he might look into adding a piece for the bullpen or move Juan Encarnacion.

Feel free to chime in and share your thoughts. I can be reached at [e-mail] and followed at @ShakeelSalamath on Twitter.