The Blue Jays added another pitcher late Wednesday night and acquired Steven Matz of the Mets in exchange for three right pitchers: Sean Reid-Foley, Yennsy Diaz and Josh Winckowski.
Matz is coming off a brutal 2020 season, but the only prospects the Blue Jays have given up are in the 31-40 series in their system, with Reid-Foley, a former top-10 prospect struggling to deliver value in the major leagues. The trade in Diaz and Reid-Foley also provides a list of 40 men for the Blue Jays to add free agent Marcus Semien.
Matz has signed a $ 5.2 million one-year contract to avoid off-season arbitration and will become a free agent after the 2021 season.
Exploration reports below …
METS OBTAINED
Yennsy Diaz, RHP
Age: 24
Diaz was number 32 in the Blue Jays system in the 2021 Baseball America Prospect Handbook and developed as an appetizer by Double-A, though his future is likely to be spot on. He made his Premier League debut in a relay role in 2019, although he did not participate in the major leagues last year. He throws a live fast ball that can reach 98 km / h in a short time, but he has an effective secondary pitch to miss bats, which is evident in his pedestrian rates. His control has improved over the years, but he needs to hit even more shots, especially without a true pitch he can rely on.
Josh Winckowski, RHP
Age: 22
The Mets – like any other club – could have added almost nothing to Winckowski in December when he was available in the Rule 5 draft in December, but he was not selected. In a deep Blue Jays farming system, Winckowski has as the prospect no. 39 on Toronto counted in the 2021 Baseball America Prospect Handbook. Winckowski was a 15th round in 2016 and placed a combined ERA of 2.69 with a 108-43 K-BB mark in 127.1 overs between two Class A levels in 2019. year, but went to the teaching league, where towards the end of the camp he ran his fast ball to 96 km / h and was learning a splinter.
Sean Reid-Foley, RHP
Age: 25
The Blue Jays drafted Reid-Foley as a second-round pick from high school in 2014. Throughout his time in the organization, Reid-Foley has flashed promising things with inconsistent results, with many of his problems due to the quick assignment. He ran 65 innings in 89 innings as a starter in Triple-A in 2019, and in 71.2 overs over three major league seasons he has a walking distance of 6.0 BB / 9. Reid-Foley, who was a relief in 2020 , drove mostly 93-96 km / h last year and could reach 97. Its main speed weapon is a slider bar of 83-88 km / h, an average pitch that has flashed better in the past, but is also contradictory. He makes an occasional change, especially to give the left a look again, but it was not effective against the big league players. Reid-Foley’s stuff is good enough to hold on to a relief role, but he needs to improve his assignment to make it happen, otherwise he’s putting hitters in too many beneficial scores and spending too much.
Sean Reid-Foley provides evidence of player development
The second player in 2014 experienced an increase in speed during the development of the team’s alternative yard.
BLUE JAYS OBTAINED
Steven Matz, LHP
Age: 29
Matz struggled through a rough 2020 season, posting a 9.68 era while allowing 14 home games in 30.2 overs. The performance eventually led to the Mets dropping him from the starting rotation before going on the injured list with shoulder problems. This battle is worrying, even though it was a small sample size in a pandemic, with Matz being more like a solid fullback from 2018-19. If he can return to form, it will be a boost for a Blue Jays team that needs help at the back of their turn.