Post by dougiejays on Dec 10, 2019 11:19:24 GMT -5
The Toronto Blue Jays continued their aggressive approach this season, making the first in-season trade of 1989 with the San Francisco Giants on Thursday. The Jays have acquired former standout closer Tom Niedenfuer for reliever Brad Lesley, top pitching prospect Mike Remlinger and Toronto’s 1990 first round pick.
Both Niedenfuer and Lesley have fallen on tough times this season, as Niedenfuer has an ERA north of 7 and 4 blown saves in the early going. For his part, Lesley has a 9.75 ERA and had given up runs in 7 straight appearances prior to the trade.
From Toronto’s end, the deal seems to be a gamble on a return to form for the 29-year-old Niedenfuer.
“Our scouts say he still has some of the best stuff in the game,” Toronto GM Doug Davis explained. “We’re not sure why he’s struggled so much early this season, but we’re confident that it’s just a blip and that once he comes into our organization he will be able to sort things out.”
It’s not clear whether San Francisco intends to use Lesley in the majors or whether his inclusion is more for salary considerations. What is clear is that for a team that’s disappointed early on in 1989, their focus has shifted to acquiring valuable future assets rather than adding to the major league team.
Remlinger was Toronto’s top pitching prospect and was recently rated by Baseball America as the 85th-best prospect in the game. Scouts say he has major league stuff, but they’re not sure he has the upside to be much more than a swingman or back-of-the-rotation type. And a first round pick is always valuable, no matter how late in the draft – but the fact that the pick projects to fall near the end of the first round may be one reason why Toronto was comfortable moving it in this trade.
Toronto hopes that Niedenfuer can help plug a leaky bullpen that has proved to be the Achilles heel of a team that is 3-12 in one-run games so far this season. But it appears that despite the struggles of incumbent closer Todd Worrell, Niedenfuer may be ticketed for middle relief duty.
“We still believe in Todd,” Davis explained. “I think it makes more sense to let Niedenfuer figure things out in a more low-leverage role at first – and besides, sometimes being the closer is limiting. Once he does get on a roll, we think it’ll be huge asset to deploy him at any point in the game.”
