Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider reacted after his team picked up Simeon Woods Richardson in a trade from the Minnesota Twins.
The Blue Jays picked up Wood Richardson on Wednesday in a trade from Minnesota for cash considerations. The Twins had recently designated the starting pitcher for assignment after a bad start to this season, and the Blue Jays snatched him up.
The team is dealing with several injuries to its starting pitching rotation this year, so they needed to get someone to soak up innings. Given Woods Richardson didn’t cost much, it made sense to pick him up and hope he rebounds in Toronto after posting an 0-7 record with a 7.74 ERA and a -1.3 bWAR in 12 games with the Twins this season.
Plus, Woods Richardson knows Toronto, as he was once part of the team’s system after they picked him up in the Marcus Stroman trade with the New York Mets in 2019, though they later traded him to Minnesota in the package deal for Jose Berrios.
John Schneider Reacts to Simeon Woods Richardson Acquisition
Speaking to MLB.com in Atlanta during the Blue Jays’ series against the Braves, Schneider was asked to give his initial thoughts on the trade for Woods Richardson.
“I’m excited to have him back in the organization,” Schneider said. “He’s got some big league experience. He’s definitely a competitor and definitely has confidence on the mound. He was a pretty good staple guy in Minnesota’s rotation for a couple of years.”
Before this year, Woods Richardson was coming off two solid seasons with Minnesota, where he had over 2 bWAR each year. But for whatever reason, the wheels fell off the wagon this year in Minnesota.
Still, Schneider hopes that Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker can help Woods Richardson make some improvements, and the team is ready to use him in any role to help the pitching staff.
“We’ll see (how we use him). We’ll see if (he’ll make) bulk starts, or relief. Whatever it is. He’s been good for a couple of years and kind of got off track this year. Whenever you’re acquiring a player, you’re kind of doing homework before. Especially with a player you’re fairly familiar with too. I think there’s some tweaks to the arsenal that we can make. You can never have enough pitching,” Schneider said.
Blue Jays on a Cold Streak
After losing to the Braves on Wednesday night, the Blue Jays have now lost four straight games, and their record stands at 29-33. For a team that went to the World Series last year, this was not the start to the season that anyone could have expected.
That being said, the American League has been weak this season, so even though the Blue Jays have been mediocre, the team only sits 1.5 GB of the third and final AL Wild Card spot.
If they can start to play better baseball, and if they can get their injured players back and up to par in speedy order, the Blue Jays still have a chance of earning a Wild Card spot, although defending the AL East division title is extremely unlikely to happen this year.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post John Schneider Reacts to Simeon Woods Richardson Trade appeared first on HEAVY.