Troy Tulowitzki sent to Blue Jays in shocking trade
Troy Tulowitzki is getting his wish. He’s been traded from the struggling Colorado Rockies, but the destination is a shocker — the Toronto Blue Jays. The trade hasn’t been confirmed by either team, but mutiple reporters, including Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown, say it’s happening. Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal was first to report the deal.
Based on what’s been reported thus far, the return for the Rockies is veteran shortstop Jose Reyes, young fireballer Miguel Castro, top pitching prospect Jeff Hoffman and one more unnamed prospects. Relief pitcher LaTroy Hawkins is also heading to the Blue Jays, filling another of their needs as they make a push toward the postseason.
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There’s a belief that Reyes, 32, could be flipped by the Rockies in another deal. He’s owed $22 million in each of the next two seasons and has a rough injury history. Not exactly a player to rebuild around.
Tulowitzki has voiced his desire for a trade in the past, saying numerous times that he’s tired of losing in Colorado. The New York Mets and New York Yankees had both been considered possible destinations for Tulo. The San Francisco Giants were one of his preferred teams, since he’s from the Bay Area. As for the Blue Jays, well, they weren’t on anybody’s radar.
By joining the Jays, Tulowitzki adds yet another big bat to a daunting lineup that includes Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. The Blue Jays already lead the league in runs, and Tulo is only going to help. Despite the offensive prowess, the Blue Jays are 50-50 and trail the New York Yankees in the AL East by seven games. They rank 23rd in team ERA.
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Tulowitzki, 30, is a career .299/.372/.514 hitter, who averages 29 homers and 102 RBIs over 162 games. He’s a five-time All-Star and he’s under contract until 2021, meaning the Blue Jays didn’t just get another player to help their playoff push, but a franchise cornerstone for years to come.
He doesn’t come cheap, though, as he’ll make $20 million annually until 2019, $14 million in 2020 and potentially $15 million in 2021 through a team option. On the downside: Tulowitzki has a substantial injury history, which could lead to some fear in Toronto, where the turf has caused trouble for players. He’s also leaving baseball’s No. 1 hitters’ friendly park in Coors Field, but Toronto’s Rogers Centre isn’t a bad home for hitters either.
The deal leaves us with a few questions, some that will answered this week and some that will play out over the rest of the season: Are the Blue Jays still going to make a move to improve their pitching? Or do they just plan to outscore everybody?
The latter doesn’t seem entirely out of the question.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
