Ten years ago today:
The Blue Jays traded Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd and Jairo Labourt to the Tigers for David Price.
At the time of the trade, the Jays were 52-51 tied for second place, 6 games back of the Yankees.
We would go 41-18 the rest of the way and finish first in the AL East, and, well, you remember the rest.
Price would go 9-1, in 11 starts for the Jays (amazing that he would get 10 decisions in 11 starts), with a 2.30 ERA. He had a rough time in the playoffs.
And he was great fun, being head cheerleader when he wasn’t pitching, being a fan of Rogers Centre popcorn, and just looking like he was enjoying every moment. Alex Anthopoulos talked about his ‘clubhouse presence,’ saying he was the best teammate he had seen.
And then, in the off-season, he signed with the Red Sox, which saddened us, but since he’s got $217 million over seven years, I’m glad the Jays didn’t beat that. He had four up-and-down seasons in Boston, fought with the media (well, mostly Dennis Eckersley, which is a plus to me) and dealt with a few injuries. In the four seasons, he had a 46-24 record with a 3.84 ERA.
In February 2020, the Red Sox traded Price to the Dodgers, along with Mookie Betts. He sat out the 2020 season. In 2021, he pitched in 39 games, starting 11, and had a 4.03 ERA. In 2022, he pitched in 40 games as a reliever with a 2.45 ERA, then retired after the season.
The players we traded?
- Boyd has turned out to be the best piece of going to the Tigers. After the trade, he pitched eight seasons with the Tigers, going 42-65 with a 4.92 ERA in 162 games, including 158 starts. Since then, he has played with the Mariners, Tigers, Guardians, and, this year, the Cubs.
- Norris pitched parts of eight seasons with the Tigers. He had a 20-33 record and a 4.52 ERA in 153 games, 79 starts. After that, he played for the Brewers, Cubs, Tigers and Guardians. He’s been out of baseball since the end of the 2023 season.
- Labourt pitched in 6 games back for the Tigers in 2017. That was his MLB career.
We were pretty happy with the trade:
And we were right.
Six Years Ago
The Jays traded Marcus Stroman to the Mets for Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson.
Kay never really turned out to be much for us. He’s played in Japan for the last couple of years.
Woods Richardson? Well….
Four Years Ago
The Jays traded for José Berríos, sending Simeon Woods Richardson and Austin Martin to the Twins.
José Berríos has a 51-43 record with the Jays, in 130 starts since the trade. He had three seasons left on his contract (with an opt-out for him after next season).
Woods Richardson has pitched in 47 games 45 starts for the Twins, with a 10-10 record and a 4.30 ERA.
Martin played in 93 gams for the Twins last year. He’s playing for their Triple-A team this year, hitting .333/.448/.422 in 29 games.