Apparently one trade wasn’t enough.
Barely had the ink dried on the Matt Nokes deal before the Toronto Blue Jays were back on the phones, this time striking a deal with the Boston Red Sox.
Boston acquires Dante Bichette.
Toronto acquires Rusty Greer and Terry Jones.
And honestly, this feels like one of those trades where both teams looked at a player they didn’t quite know what to do with and decided somebody else should have the problem.
Let’s start with Boston.
Because Bichette immediately becomes one of the better hitters on their roster.
That’s both a compliment to Bichette and a commentary on where the Red Sox currently find themselves.
Bichette has always been one of the stranger evaluations in baseball. The ratings say one thing. The production says another. Scouts have spent years looking at the underlying profile and convincing themselves a breakout season is right around the corner.
And then it usually isn’t.
Last season was another example.
He began the year in Seattle before landing in Toronto at the deadline, finishing with a .217/.267/.423 slash line. Not good. Not catastrophic. Just sort of… there.
The power remains intriguing.
The bat speed still exists.
The overall production continues to lag behind what the tools suggest it should be.
At some point you stop calling it bad luck and start calling it who the player is.
Still, for Boston, it’s a perfectly reasonable gamble.
The Red Sox aren’t entering 1998 with championship expectations. They’re looking for upside. They’re looking for players who might outperform their value. They’re looking for reasons to believe.
Bichette checks all three boxes.
And while he’ll never be mistaken for a Gold Glover, he won’t actively hurt you in the field either. Sometimes league-average defense attached to intriguing power is enough.
Now let’s talk about Toronto.
Because this is where things get delightfully confusing.
The Blue Jays entered the offseason staring at another looming cap crunch and appear determined to collect useful, affordable pieces wherever they can find them.
Greer certainly qualifies.
Or at least part of him does.
Against right-handed pitching, Greer is genuinely interesting. The bat plays. The on-base skills are useful. There are situations where he can absolutely help a winning baseball team.
The problem is that eventually somebody hands him a glove.
And that’s where the conversation gets uncomfortable.
Greer’s defensive reputation is, let’s say, well established. Nobody is acquiring him because they envision him saving runs in the outfield. Toronto is buying the bat and hoping they can hide everything else.
Which raises a fascinating question:
Where exactly does he fit?
This roster already features Mark McGwire and Will Clark. The Blue Jays have accumulated so many offense-first players that positional fit increasingly feels like somebody else’s problem.
Then again, Toronto has spent the better part of two years collecting bats and figuring out the details later.
Why stop now?
Jones, meanwhile, is the type of player nobody talks about when trades happen but every organization quietly values.
A capable depth center fielder making less than $50,000.
That’s useful.
Not exciting.
Not headline-worthy.
Useful.
And when you’re constantly dancing around the salary cap, useful and cheap tends to become a very attractive combination.
That’s ultimately why I like this trade for Toronto.
The Blue Jays turn one confusing player into two potentially useful ones while gaining additional financial flexibility.
Boston gets the highest upside player in the deal.
Toronto gets the better collection of assets.
Both outcomes can be true.
And that’s why this feels like another one of those increasingly common offseason deals where neither side is really trying to “win” the trade.
They’re simply solving different problems.
Boston is buying upside.
Toronto is buying flexibility.
Given the current state of the league, both strategies make a lot of sense.
Trade Grades
Toronto Blue Jays: A
Toronto turns one volatile asset into two useful pieces, gains flexibility, adds depth, and continues navigating an increasingly difficult salary situation without sacrificing meaningful talent.
Boston Red Sox: A-
Bichette immediately becomes one of the more intriguing bats on the roster. The upside is real, even if the production has spent years refusing to cooperate. A worthwhile gamble for a team not expected to contend in 1998.