The Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly made a trade to acquire some more pitching depth.
Toronto has been hampered by injuries to its rotation, and on Wednesday, the Blue Jays reportedly acquired former top prospect Simeon Woods Richardson from the Minnesota Twins. The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon was the first to report the news.
“The Blue Jays are acquiring Simeon Woods Richardson from the Minnesota Twins, sources tell The Athletic. The former Jays top prospect, sent to Minnesota in the José Berríos trade, is coming back. SWR was DFA’d by the Twins a few days ago,” Bannon wrote on X.
Toronto is giving up cash considerations in return, according to Bannon.
The Blue Jays acquired Woods Richardson and Anthony Kay from the New York Mets for Marcus Stroman in July of 2019. He was the team’s third-ranked prospect in 2020 and the fourth-ranked prospect in 2021.
However, with the Blue Jays trying to win, Toronto traded Woods Richardson and Austin Martin to the Twins for Jose Berrios in July of 2021.
Now, years later, Woods Richardson is back in Toronto and will add some much-needed pitching depth to the Blue Jays system.
Woods Richardson has struggled this season as he’s 0-7 with a 7.74 ERA in 12 games, including 10 starts, which led to him being DFA’d. With Toronto, Woods Richardson can add some starting pitching depth or serve as a bulk reliever.
In his MLB career, Woods Richardson is 12-17 with a 4.76 ERA in 65 games, including 61 starts.
Blue Jays Parted Ways With Woods Richardson
Woods Richardson became a key prospect for Toronto, but the Blue Jays traded him to acquire Berrios.
The right-hander was a hard prospect to give up for the team. Yet, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins felt like the team had to give up two good prospects to get Berrios.
“This is a combination of things occurring over several years,” said Atkins. “The development and maturation of our young core, the opportunities we’ve had over the past couple of offseasons to add, and now our farm system being in a good place with a team that we’d like to help push to the next level. All of those things made some sense with the opportunity to acquire a talent that we’re very excited about.”
Berrios ended up making an impact for the Blue Jays. However, he’s among the pitching injuries as he’s lost for the entire season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery.
Toronto Getting Pitchers Back
The Blue Jays, meanwhile, are close to getting some pitchers back.
Toronto announced that Dylan Cease, Max Scherzer, and Shane Bieber will all make rehab starts in Triple-A this weekend. Cease, meanwhile, could be the closest, as Blue Jays manager John Schneider said he could just use one rehab start.
“It’s possible it could be one-and-done,” said Schneider.
Scherzer, meanwhile, is excited about where he’s at and believes he’s getting closer.
“I’m not ramping up,” he clarified. “I’m speeding up. So I can be a little bit more aggressive.”
Along with the starters, Tommy Nance is set to make a rehab outing in Triple-A, while Yimi Garcia is also set to make a rehab outing.
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