The Marco Scutaro Trade

On Novemeber 18, 2007, The Oakland A's sent Marco Scutaro to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Minor League pitchers Graham Godfrey (34th rd, 2006) and Kristian Bell (11th rd, 2004). Scutaro was brought in to be a utility man, having proven that he can play 2nd base and 3rd base relatively well and provide adequate defence at shortstop and left field.

He had an OK 2008, filling in for various injuries at all infield positions and putting up a mediocre OPS+ of 88. Fine, I thought. This is a decent utility guy who can probably have a good career filling in every once in a while. You can imagine how confused I was, then, when he was announced to be the Jays' starting shortstop and leadoff hitter in 2009.

Boy, was I ever wrong. Not only had I failed to realize that he was well liked by fielding metrics, but he managed a 3.1 WAR on the strength of his good fielding. And then came his career year at the plate, in which he walked at a 13.2% clip and posted 111 OPS+, although his fielding metrics went down considerably. He was entertaining to watch (notably stealing second base on his own walk against Joe Blanton in Philadelphia) and quickly became a fan favourite, with good reason. Best of all, he attained type A free agent status.

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When Alex Anthopoulos signed John McDonald for 2 years at $1.5MM each year, I thought for sure he'd become the Jays' primary shortstop in this "building" season. A few days later, as you may recall, he also inked Alex Gonzalez (who shares the same name as my all-time favourite Blue Jay) for a $2.75, 1-year deal with a team option for $2.5MM. I didn't really like it but didn't think much of it. Another all-glove, no-bat shortstop for a year, probably won't pick up the option. And it's not my $2MM+, so no big deal. Then I thought of the possibility that Anthopoulos pulled Gonzalez before the Red Sox could re-sign him, as they had thought quite highly of him as a player, having traded for him in 2009. Could it have forced the Red Sox to, in turn, sign Scutaro? Maybe. In any case, that gave the Jays the #34 (Aaron Sanchez) and #80 (Justin Nicolino) picks in the 2010 Amateur Draft. Young, high-upside pitchers.

And then Gonzalez started to hit lots of home runs. By the All-Star Break, he led all AL shortstops with a 112 OPS+, somehow failing to make the All-Star Game. It's too bad, because that would be the last chance Jays fans would have had to see him in a Jays uniform.

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So now Toronto's left with Yunel Escobar, a cheap, talented 27-year-old shortstop under team control until 2013, and Jo-Jo Reyes, a once-highly-considered prospect who has simply stunk at the MLB level so far. A reclamation project of sorts.

But let's focus on Escobar. This is a guy who the Braves probably wouldn't have traded for Travis Snider three months ago. Young shortstops with career OBPs of .370 with speed, growing power and elite defence don't grow on trees, after all. The fact that he wasn't liked in Atlanta has been spun a number of different ways. Some insist that it is a lack of hustle and too much showboating that made him lose favour with management. Others insist that he just never felt comfortable in Atlanta, and maybe a change of scenery will do him good. The truth, as it almost always is, is most likely somewhere in the middle. Escobar didn't learn much English, which clearly distanced him from his teammates and the media, as well as American culture. But when several sources criticize someone's attitude, it's unlikely that it's being fabricated. This is reminiscent of the Rios scenario with the Jays last year, and the Jays are hopeful that a change will wake him up as well as let him settle down.

Oh yeah, the Jays traded 5'7" Tim Collins of the 15+K/9 ratio and SS Tyler Pastornicky to the Braves. Potentially good players, but you have to give talent to get it.

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It's a bit of a stretch to say that Graham Godfrey and Kristian Bell, along with Collins and Pastornicky were traded for Yunel Escobar, Jo-Jo Reyes, Justin Nicolino and Aaron Sanchez. But the fact is, despite all that's been made of the Jays' shortstop conundrum of late, all that has turned around, starting with Marco Scutaro's great performance in 2009. After the Jays and Red Sox essentially traded shortstops in the offseason, the Jays won out, receiving a huge first half from Gonzalez (and 2 young drafted pitchers) and spinning that into potentially a great player for the longer term. And the salaries in all of that? Scutaro earned $2.65MM in his 2 years in Toronto, and Alex Gonzalez about $1.5MM in his half season. That adds up to about two fifths of what they're paying B.J. Ryan this year.