Former Blue Jays on the move in 2021
Several former Toronto Blue Jays signed with or were traded to new teams this offseason
Pitchers and catchers are back, but some former Blue Jays are reporting to new teams. We compiled most of the former Blue Jays that changed teams during the 2020/2021 season below:
Anthony Bass, Miami Marlins:
Toronto claimed Bass off waivers in late October 2019 and became one of the most consistent and valuable arms out of their pen last year. In 25.2 innings he registered 21 strikeouts, allowed only two homers, and locked down the most saves on the team (seven). Despite signing in Miami for two years, $5 million, Bass seems about as pumped about the Blue Jays latest acquisitions as most fans.
Joe Biagini, Chicago Cubs:
Biagini has struggled since he was traded alongside Aaron Sanchez in 2019 for fan favourite Derek Fisher. After posting a 4.74 ERA across four seasons in Toronto, Biagini allowed 22 earned runs in 19 innings with Houston. He appeared in just 4.1 innings of relief in 2020 and Houston let him walk to free agency. Biagini was brought in by the Chicago Cubs during a slew of February minor league signings and will have to overcome worsening control and homer-issues to win a spot in Chicago’s bullpen.
Freddy Galvis, Baltimore Orioles:
Galvis was a bright spot on one of the worst teams in Blue Jays’ history (and they got absolutely nothing for him). For Toronto in 2018, Galvis posted the best offensive season of his career (a .734 OPS), hit 23 home runs, and played great defense at shortstop until the prodigal son — Bo Bichette — arrived. Toronto ultimately released Galvis after the trade deadline so he could sign with the Reds, but as a team leader, good defender, and place holder, he did his job.
Galvis’ new team, the Baltimore Orioles, brought the shortstop in for $1.5 million to reprise his Blue Jay role and flash leather for the prospect pitchers Baltimore will try out in the big leagues in 2021.
Ken Giles, Seattle Mariners:
Ken Giles’ 2019 season was one of the best seasons the Blue Jays have ever gotten from a closer. He posted a 1.87 ERA, 2.27 FIP, 14.1 K/9, and just a 1.000 WHIP, and aside from some mid-season health concerns, Giles was arguably the best relief pitcher in baseball. His 2020, however, was a disaster. From the first week of the season, Giles dealt with elbow concerns that shelved him for most of the year, and even when he returned the Jays were unwilling to use him in save situations due to a velocity drop and re-injury scares. In September, Giles had season-ending Tommy John surgery that will keep him out for all of 2021. The Mariners, in the midst of a rebuild, took a risk on him coming back from injury for 2022, signing him to a two-year deal.
J.A. Happ, Minnesota Twins:
Let’s hope Toronto’s 2021 free agent signings work out as well as Happ’s three-year deal with the Jays that started in 2016. In Happ’s second stint in Toronto, the lefty pitched over 450 innings with a sub 3.5 ERA and an All-Star Game appearance before he was shipped off to the Yankees for beloved assets Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney. Happ has had some up-and-down years since leaving Toronto, but in 2020 he was one of the Yankees’ best starters. Looking to add consistency to their rotation, the Minnesota Twins signed Happ to a one-year, $8 million deal for 2021. The 38-year-old’s biggest struggles have been home runs, so moving from Yankee Stadium to one of the largest parks in baseball should benefit Happ.
Liam Hendriks, Chicago White Sox:
Hendriks added a couple MPH to his fastball and became one of the most dominant closers in baseball in Oakland, but the Australian righty was underrated as a Blue Jay. Hendriks was a member of a slept-on 2015 Toronto bullpen that featured Roberto Osuna, prime Brett Cecil, bullpen Aaron Sanchez, and even 43 good innings from Bo Shultz! According to spies camping outside Dunedin, Hendriks may have been close to a third stint with the Blue Jays this offseason, but ultimately signed a complicated three (but also kinda four) year deal with the White Sox for $54 million guaranteed.
Jeff Hoffman, Cincinnati Reds:
Hoffman has not lived up to his top-50 prospect ranking prior to the 2017 season. After acquiring the righty in the Troy Tulowitzki deal, the Rockies have given Hoffman every chance to earn a roster over the last five seasons, but he's never stuck — you must scroll back to 2016 to find an MLB ERA under five for Hoffman. The 28-year-old’s control issues have worsened, and, despite rarely letting up the long ball in the minors, he has developed homer troubles in the big leagues. Though moving away from Coors Field seems like a blessing, Hoffman lands in Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark, the league’s second hardest park to pitch in.
Aaron Loup, New York Mets:
Behind some guy named Blake Snell, Loup may have been the most discussed Tampa lefty in the 2020 World Series. The southpaw appeared in the third most games among Rays relievers in the 2020 playoffs, pitching 5.1 IP, striking out seven batters, walking two, and allowing two earned runs.
After seven years and 369 appearances for the Blue Jays, Loup continues to carve out a Major League role in an era where the LOOGY is all but dead. He will be joining the fifth organization of his career, the New York Mets, on a one-year, $3 million deal. Toronto will be upset to see Loup leave the division as they scored five of the seven runs Loup let up all of last season.
Matt Shoemaker, Minnesota Twins:
Shoemaker joined a depressingly small fraternity of Toronto Blue Jay pitchers to make a playoff start in 2020, and he dominated. In his second-ever playoff start, and first since 2014, Shoemaker allowed just two hits through three innings. Though he was removed from the game and Toronto went on to lose 3-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays, Shoemaker was as good as Toronto could've asked him to be coming off the IL. And that was kind of the story for Shoemaker in Toronto — great, but constantly on and off the IL. The Twins will be the next club to try to luck into a healthy Matt Shoemaker season.
Taijuan Walker, New York Mets:
Walker and the Blue Jays flirted from across the room all offseason, but never came to a deal — they wanted each other, clearly, but in the end, they wanted different things. Walker landed a multi-year deal with the New York Mets, and all reports out of Toronto said the Jays were unwilling to go to multiple years on the second-tier SP market. Walker was brilliant for the Jays, yes, but there are durability and peripheral statistic concerns that held him back from being that SP2/3 they were looking for. In New York, any upside Walker flashes will only compliment an already dominant rotation with Jacob DeGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, and Carlos Carrasco.