The Toronto Blue Jays added two gunners to their reliever staff Tuesday at the trade deadline, signing Zach Pop and Anthony Bass from the Miami Marlins.
• To read also: 1st circuit with the Marlins: “Magic moments” for the Leblanc family
The only major Canadian baseball team has also acquired a player whose identity will be revealed later, according to the Sportsnet network. In return, the Jays trade 22-year-old prospect Jordan Groshans to the Marlins.
It is therefore a return to the Queen City for Bass, who had spent the 2020 season there. At the age of 34, the reliever is on the right track to experience the best season of his career, he who maintained a 1.41 ERA in 45 games. He also made 45 opponents bite the dust in 44 2/3 innings.
For his part, Pop is only in his second season on the Manfred circuit, he who lowered his earned run average to 3.60 in 2022, compared to 4.12 in his first season. In 20 innings of work, he had 14 strikeouts.
Then, a few minutes before the deadline to trade, the Ontario team made two trades, first adding pitcher Mitch White and prospect Alex De Jesus, from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In return, the Jays gave up two prospects on the mound, Nick Frasso and Moises Brito.
White is therefore the only player with major league experience, having played 15 games in 2022, including 10 as a starter. He went 1-2 and posted a 3.70 GAA with the California organization. In 56 innings of work, the 27-year-old athlete passed 47 opponents in the mitt.
Minutes later, the Jays secured second baseman - who can also play as an outfielder - Whit Merrifield from the Kansas City Royals against prospects Samad Taylor and Max Castillo.
In 2022, Merrifield is on a slight downturn, maintaining just a .240 batting average and .290 base occupancy, his lowest total in each category for a single season. .
The 33-year-old athlete, who has two career all-star appearances, has still produced 42 points since the start of the campaign.
Anthopoulos strikes again
Comfortably ensconced as the No. 1 draft team in the National League and just three and a half games behind the New York Mets in No. 1 in the Eastern Division heading into the evening games, the Atlanta Braves have added two important elements to their formation through two separate transactions.
Late Monday night, they secured the services of Detroit Tigers outfielder Robbie Grossman, in return for mound prospect Kris Anglin.
Then on Tuesday, general manager Alex Anthopoulos added quality pitcher Jake Odorizzi from the Minnesota Twins against reliever Will Smith. In Grossman's case, he's had a poor season, posting a low .205 batting average and producing 23 runs.
For his part, Odorizzi has never made less than 20 starts in a single season since 2014, aside from the shortened 2020 campaign. In 2022, he went 4-3 in 12 starts, with a 3.75 earned run average. In 60 innings of work, he allowed only five long balls and struck out 46 batters.
Anthopoulos worked until the very last second as the Braves got saves specialist Raisel Iglesias from the Los Angeles Angels just before the deadline for two prospects on the mound.
The 32-year-old has 16 saves this season, posting a 4.04 ERA.
Elsewhere in Major League Baseball
Often implicated in rumors to acquire Los Angeles Angels pitcher Noah Syndergaard, the Blue Jays were finally beaten at the finish line by the Philadelphia Phillies in this matter. The Pennsylvania squad also got outfielder Brandon Marsh from the Angels, in a completely different trade, earlier in the day. The Phillies completed their purchase by securing reliever David Robertson from the Chicago Cubs.
In Minnesota, the Twins have found several solutions to their many problems on the mound, both in the rotation of starters and in the bullpen. Thus, they concluded agreements with the Baltimore Orioles, the Detroit Tigers and the Cincinnati Reds, respectively for the reliever Jorge Lopez, as well as the starters Michael Fulmer and Tyler Mahle.
On the St. Louis side, the Cardinals have greatly improved their rotation of starting pitchers. After getting Jose Quintana from the Pittsburgh Pirates late Monday night, they got their hands on New York Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery.
The Dodgers also grabbed the Yankees' backyard, getting outfielder Joey Gallo.
The New York Mets, also seen as a playoff team to watch, haven't just watched their rivals improve. They first got Darin Ruf from the San Francisco Giants before securing pitcher Mychal Givens from the Chicago Cubs.
