Two desperate teams with different agendas linked up for a trade that could boost the Toronto Blue Jays’ chances of landing heralded pitcher Roki Sasaki.
The Blue Jays, a league source told The Athletic, acquired $2 million worth of international bonus pool space from the Cleveland Guardians on Friday. The Guardians are also sending center fielder Myles Straw, along with $3.75 million to Toronto. The Blue Jays will send the Guardians a player to be named later or cash.
For the Blue Jays, the increase in international bonus pool space allows them to offer a higher sum to Sasaki, who has until Jan. 23 to choose a new team under the terms of his posting. The Blue Jays, Dodgers and Padres were believed to be his final choices. The Blue Jays now have about $8.26 million in bonus pool space. The Dodgers have $5.1 million. Both teams can continue to add to their totals; teams can increase their pool by 60 percent.
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Cleveland has been determined to find a way to unload Straw’s contract, which guarantees him $13.8 million the next two years, plus another $1.75 million in the form of a buyout.
The Guardians, a league source told The Athletic, are sending the Blue Jays $1 million this year, $1 million next year and $1.75 million at the end of the 2026 season, the same value of the buyout. The Guardians will save about $11 million on a player who signed an extension and then quickly fell out of Cleveland’s plans.
It’s the second time these teams have completed a trade this offseason. In November, Cleveland dealt second baseman Andrés Giménez and reliever Nick Sandlin to the Blue Jays for infielder Spencer Horwitz. A few hours later, the Guardians flipped Horwitz to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitcher Luis Ortiz and a pair of prospects. The Giménez deal, similar to this one, was driven by the Guardians’ desire to escape from the present and future salaries of a player who had been granted an extension. The Blue Jays owe Giménez — one of the sport’s premier defenders, but whose offense has declined dramatically each of the last two seasons — nearly $100 million over the next five seasons.
The end to Straw’s Cleveland saga
At the 2021 trade deadline, Cleveland’s front office, after a years-long pursuit of outfield stability, traded reliever Phil Maton and catching prospect Yainer Diaz to the Houston Astros for Straw. Straw served as the club’s leadoff hitter in the second half and hit .285 with a healthy on-base percentage and a knack for stealing bases. That landed him a long-term contract, but he never replicated that performance.
Straw did win a Gold Glove Award in 2022, but he posted a .564 OPS and was dropped to the bottom of the lineup. He didn’t fare much better in 2023, and during spring training last year, the team placed him on waivers and booted him from its 40-man roster. He spent last summer at Triple-A Columbus despite earning a salary worth nearly $5 million from an organization that annually boasts one of the league’s smallest payrolls.
Diaz, meanwhile, developed into a bat-first catcher who has produced 3.2 bWAR each of the last two years for the Astros. He’s under team control through the 2028 season. Since the trade, Maton has been a serviceable reliever for the Astros, Rays and Mets, and has logged a 2.55 ERA in 24 postseason appearances for those clubs.
(Photo of Myles Straw: Keith Gillett / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
