Colorado Rockies: Seven (or more) trade targets from the Toronto Blue Jays

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 23: Cavan Biggio #8 of the Toronto Blue Jays in action against the New York Mets at Citi Field on July 23, 2021 in New York City. The Mets defeated the Blue Jays 3-0. Biggio could be a trade target for the Colorado Rockies. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Our series of looking at trade targets from each team for the Colorado Rockies continues with the Toronto Blue Jays as we wrap up the American League East, the first of the six divisions we have to cover.

The Blue Jays are right on the cusp of making the postseason as they were literally in the playoff hunt until the final day of the season. Despite adding Kevin Gausman, who pitched for the San Francisco Giants last season, the Blue Jays have lost two big parts of their 2021 team in AL Cy Young Award Winner Robbie Ray (to Seattle) and their AL MVP finalist second baseman Marcus Semien (to Texas).

They will be making more moves when the lockout ends but there are some areas where they have log jams that the Rockies could use or there are some areas that the Rockies need to address and, perhaps, the two teams could agree upon a trade.

The Toronto Blue Jays and Colorado Rockies have hooked up for transactions fairly frequently in recent years as they have made four transactions between each other since 2015, with the most recent trade happening in 2018 when the Blue Jays traded reliever Seung-hwan Oh to the Rockies.

The biggest trade between the two teams is, of course, the trade that sent Troy Tulowitzki to the Blue Jays in 2015 at the trade deadline. Now that Jesús Tinoco has signed a minor league deal with Texas, all four players that the Rockies got in the trade are out of the organization, officially cementing the deal as a dud for both sides.

Let’s dive into the eight trade targets the Colorado Rockies should (or could) look at with the Toronto Blue Jays.

ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – JULY 11: Cavan Biggio #8 of the Toronto Blue Jays awaits the play during the ninth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on July 11, 2021 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) /

Toronto Blue Jays infielder Cavan Biggio could provide the Colorado Rockies with a left-handed bat

Toronto Blue Jays infielder Cavan Biggio, the son of MLB Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, was the one player that we chose for our list when we were choosing just one trade target the Colorado Rockies should look at from each team and we chose him for that for a few reasons.

First of all, he’s versatile. He primarily plays second base so the Colorado Rockies could slot him in there and have Ryan McMahon at third base and Brendan Rodgers at shortstop. His next position is third base so Biggio could play third and between short and second, McMahon plays one and Rodgers plays the other.

Biggio, who turns 27 in April, also has played all three outfield spots and first base. That plays right into the Rockies wheelhouse.

However, as we said in October, the Blue Jays would be selling low on Biggio.

He hit hist .224/.322/.356 with an OPS+ of 86 in an injury-plagued 2021 campaign (only 79 games). In 2019 and 2020, Biggio combined to only have an average of .240 in 159 games but his on-base percentage of .368 shows that he could be a leadoff guy for the Rockies. He had 24 homers and 78 RBI in those 159 games with an OPS+ of 116 so if he can produce that for a full season, the Rockies would love to have that.

The Biggio family is also familiar with Colorado, as Rox Pile’s Kevin Larson discussed in this article last year.

For the Blue Jays, they may not have space on their roster for him so they could look to move Biggio to the outfield or put him in a trade. Two of the Blue Jays top 10 prospects (Otto Lopez and Kevin Smith) are infielders and either has made their MLB debut already or are at the Triple-A level and ready for the big leagues.

Additionally, if the Atlanta Braves don’t re-sign Freddie Freeman and the Blue Jays sign the Canadian citizen, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. would either have to be a full-time DH or play third base, making Biggio’s infield career with the Blue Jays even more up in the air.

That’s part of the reason why the next player is on our list.

TORONTO, ON – SEPTEMBER 29: Santiago Espinal #5 of the Toronto Blue Jays bats during a MLB game against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre on September 29, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /

Toronto Blue Jays infielder Santiago Espinal could help the Colorado Rockies infield situation as well

Santiago Espinal, 27, could see his playing time reduced by the Toronto Blue Jays in the near future with some of their young infield prospects waiting in the wings.

Espinal was originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox but they traded him in 2018 for Steve Pearce. Although Pearce wasn’t around long (79 regular season games in parts of two seasons), it would be a trade that the Red Sox would do over again because Pearce was the World Series MVP for the Red Sox in 2018.

Espinal, like Biggio, has played a handful of games at nearly every position in the minor leagues or majors but his two primary positions are shortstop and third base and the Rockies need to address one of the two, depending on where they plan on playing Ryan McMahon and Brendan Rodgers.

Espinal has only played 118 games in the majors, as he made his debut in 2020, but he has been able to hit well in the majors, as he did in the minors. In the majors, he has hit .301/.361/.390 with an OPS+ of 114.

He has never hit for much power (his career-high in a season is 10) but with the on-base component and good defense (8 Defensive Runs Saved in 81 games in the field in 2021), Espinal could be a good addition for the Rockies at the top of the lineup.

TORONTO, ON – SEPTEMBER 30: Randal Grichuk #15 of the Toronto Blue Jays at bat in the third inning of their MLB game against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre on September 30, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images) /

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Randal Grichuk would give the Colorado Rockies a power bat

Randal Grichuk, 30, is entering the fourth year of a five-year extension with the Toronto Blue Jays that will pay him at least $10.33 million ($9.3 million base salary plus $1 million as a signing bonus) for each of the next two seasons.

Grichuk is a good power bat as, since 2015 (his first full season), Grichuk has had a 162-game average of 30 homers, 82 RBI, and a .475 slugging percentage.

Grichuk does have a few issues, though. First of all, he doesn’t hit for average or get on-base much (sub-.250 average and sub-.300 OBP). Secondly, he is a bit streaky with his bat. Look at his OPS+ throughout the full seasons.

2015: 134
2016: 102
2017: 95
2018: 117
2019: 93
2020: 114
2021: 89

If you want to take a positive spin on that, the numbers look like he’ll be better in 2022 (an even year).

Grichuk is also not a great defender in center field, which is where the Rockies would likely want to use him. He is an above-average defender in right field but below-average in center.

So he’s not a perfect fit for the Rockies but if they get him for a low-level prospect and some salary relief, he could be a decent fit for the Rockies.

BALTIMORE, MD – SEPTEMBER 12: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. #13 of the Toronto Blue Jays runs to third base during a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 12, 2021 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. would be a great fit for the Colorado Rockies

Lourdes Gurriel, Jr., 28, is the younger brother of Houston Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel. The younger Gurriel has been in the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays since 2018 and he has provided them with a power bat, especially in 2021, which was his first full season playing more than 100 games.

In 2021, Gurriel, Jr. hit 21 homers and 84 RBI in 141 games with a slash line of .276/.319/.466 and an OPS+ of 111. In his career, he has a 162-game average of 29 homers and 94 RBI.

He has played left field for the Blue Jays (and had 6 DRS out there in 2021), the Rockies should target him for his bat and versatility. Gurriel, Jr. can play left, first, second, and shortstop so he could fill in wherever the Rockies need him to play and have a good bad, unlike most utility players.

As of now, it looks like the Jays would want to keep him but if the Blue Jays sign someone like Freddie Freeman, as we mentioned earlier, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. could be the primary DH. That means that one of Teoscar Hernández, George Springer, Gurriel, Jr., or Grichuk is either on the bench or not with the team.

Most likely, the odd man out would be Grichuk but if the Blue Jays can’t get someone to take some of the cash on Grichuk’s deal, Gurriel, Jr. may be the odd man out.

ANAHEIM, CA – AUGUST 10: Reese McGuire #7 of the Toronto Blue Jays in action during the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium on August 10, 2021 in Anaheim, California. The Angels defeated the Blue Jays 6-3. (Photo by Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

The Toronto Blue Jays have a slew of catchers that could be a backup for the Colorado Rockies.

The Toronto Blue Jays have a lot of catchers that could be a backup for the Colorado Rockies if the Rockies decide to keep Dom Nuñez in Triple-A or move on from him.

Reese McGuire, who will be 27 in March, was the primary catcher for the Blue Jays in 2021. He has only played 141 games in the majors across four seasons. Defensively, he’s an average to slightly above-average catcher but offensively, he hasn’t shown much at the MLB level as he has a career slash line of .248/.297/.390.

Danny Jansen, who turns 27 in April, was the primary catcher in 2019 and 2020 but he was injured for a good chunk of 2021 as he only played in a total of 70 games. Like McGuire, defensively, he is slightly above average but the bat isn’t great. He has a career slash line of .212/.298/.396, for a nearly identical OPS of .694.

Alejandro Kirk, 23, has the most upside of the three so he is the least likely to be traded and most likely to be their catcher of the future. The former #70 overall prospect entering 2021 per Baseball Prospectus lost roughly 40 pounds last offseason and is a good hitter. In the minors, he is a career .317 hitter with an OPS of .919. He hasn’t been quite as good in his brief MLB tenure (69 games) but he still has hit .259 with a good OPS of .791. But in his brief MLB stint, he hasn’t been a great defensive catcher.

The problem for all three of them is that Gabriel Moreno, 21, is the #1 prospect for the Blue Jays and MLB.com’s #32 overall prospect. He is close to being ready for the majors as he tore the cover off the ball in Double-A (.372 average and a 1.092 OPS) before he was promoted to Triple-A. He only played in three games there but he will likely make his MLB debut in 2022.

Our colleague Evan Gignac of Jays Journal looked at what the Blue Jays might do with their catching until Moreno comes up or if they do something with him in this article earlier this week.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 09: Tim Mayza #58 of the Toronto Blue Jays in action against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on September 09, 2021 in New York City. The Blue Jays defeated the Yankees 6-4. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies could use Toronto Blue Jays reliever Tim Mayza in the back-end of their bullpen.

Tim Mayza, who turns 30 next month, had a great season for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021 and he could provide the Colorado Rockies with a veteran left-handed reliever in the bullpen.

Mayza appeared in 61 games in 2021 and had an ERA of 3.40 (130 ERA+) with a FIP of 3.09, an excellent WHIP of 0.981, and a great walk (2.0 BB/9) and strikeout rate (9.7 K/9).

The thing that could make him a good fit in the Colorado Rockies bullpen is his high groundball rate. His groundball rate since 2019 is 56 percent. Among relievers with at least 100 innings pitched since then, his groundball rate is 13th-highest. That bodes well for pitching at Coors Field.

Given that Mayza does not have a ton of MLB service time, Mayza (at least under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement) would not be a free agent for another four years. Currently, he is just a few days shy of being arbitration-eligible so he is still making just over the MLB minimum wage.

His price tag may be a little bit higher with his good season and controllability but considering that he’s a reliever, a low-level prospect or two should get a deal done.

TORONTO, ON – SEPTEMBER 29: Adam Cimber #90 of the Toronto Blue Jays delivers a pitch during a MLB game against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre on September 29, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies could use Toronto Blue Jays reliever Adam Cimber in the back-end of their bullpen

Adam Cimber is a submarine pitcher who has bounced a bit in his brief MLB career. Cimber made his debut in 2018 when he was 27 with San Diego. He was traded to Cleveland along with Brad Hand at the trade deadline in 2018 before Cleveland traded him to Miami in 2020. Miami traded him to the Toronto Blue Jays (along with former Colorado Rockies outfielder Corey Dickerson) in late June.

2021 was his best MLB season as in 72 games, he had an ERA of 2.26 with an ERA+ of 191, a FIP of 3.07, a WHIP of 1.074, and he only walked two batters per nine innings.

Prior to 2021, Cimber had a 3.89 ERA (112 ERA+) and a 3.86 FIP in 152 games in the majors.

Cimber is not a strikeout guy (his fastball only averages out at 87 MPH) but he has a great groundball rate. Since 2019 among relievers (again, minimum of 100 innings pitched), his 54.5 groundball rate is 16th-highest.

Four trade targets from the Tampa Bay Rays. dark. Next

That wraps up the AL East as next, we move on to the AL Central and the Chicago White Sox.

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