Today in Jay History: Jays Trade for Troy Glaus

20 Years Ago

Well, the Jays made it official on the 27th. We knew about it before Christmas.

Orlando Hudson and Miguel Batista went to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Troy Glaus and Sergio Santos came to the Blue Jays.

The trade was a surprise because the Jays had Corey Koskie, Shea Hillenbrand, and Eric Hinske for the corner infield spots. Koskie had been a free agent signing before the 2005 season, but he had a tough season, hitting .249/.337/.398, missing 60 games with injuries. But he had two years left on his contract. So Koskie would be traded (along with some cash) to the Brewers for Brian Wolfe in early January. Unfortunately, Koskie missed most of 2006 with post-concussion syndrome, and he wouldn’t play in the MLB again.

Hillenbrand, famously, was traded mid-season 2006 after writing ‘the ship is sinking’ on the whiteboard in the clubhouse, fighting with John Gibbons, and generally being a pain in the butt. Hinske was sold to the Red Sox in August 2006 after hitting .264/.353/.513 in 84 games. One might have thought that numbers like that would entice someone to offer a player in return. Hinske became a good-luck charm, playing for a team that reached the World Series three seasons in a row (2007-2009), winning a ring twice.

In Glaus, the Jays were getting a needed power bat. In 2005, we only had one player (Vernon Wells) with over 20 home runs. Glaus would hit 38 home runs in 2006 and 20 in 2007. He missed a fair amount of time in 2006 with plantar fasciitis. After the season, he asked to be traded away from the turf at Rogers Center, and we sent him to St. Louis for Scott Rolen. Santos spent a few seasons in our minor league system, playing short but hitting like a pitcher. Then, he moved on to the Twins and decided to make it as a pitcher. Sergio had a couple of good seasons pitching out of the pen and returned to the Jays, but he spent most of the time here injured or ineffective.

Hudson was traded to make room at second base for Aaron Hill and had three good seasons with the Diamondbacks, hitting .294/.365/.440 with 33 home runs, making two All-Star games, and winning 2 Gold Gloves with them. With Arizona, he put up a 10.5 bWAR. He went on to play for the Dodgers, Padres, and White Sox. Batista went 11-8 with a 4.58 ERA for the Diamondbacks in 2006. He left as a free agent after the season. After that, he would play for the Mariners, Nationals, Cardinals, and Mets.

I will call the trade a win, but mostly because we got Scott Rolen for Glaus. But then an infield of Hill at short, Koskie at third (avoiding the concussion), and Hinske at first, with Hillenbrand and Russ Adams backing them up, might not have been the worst.

Unfortunately, handing the SS job to Russ Adams didn’t work out. We did not have a solid player in the position until 2009, and Marco Scutaro.

Two Years Ago

The Jays signed Isiah Kiner-Falefa to a two-year $15 million contract. I said:

He can play all over the field, so he’s a poor man’s Whit Merrifield (though not all that poor at $15 million). In the majors, he’s played every position, other than first base. Infield, he’s pretty decent with the glove. I’d rather not play him in the outfield. He has caught 586 innings.

The unfortunate thing is, he can’t hit. Last year, he hit .242/.306/.340 for a 82 wRC+ (right around his career number) in 361 PA. If he gets 361 PA this year for the Jays, something has gone wrong. I’d rather have Espinal in the ‘play everything’ spot. Or Biggio. Or any of half a dozen guys in the minors who would make less than $15 million in the next couple of years.

Isiah must be a good guy because he’s played six full seasons without coming close to being a major league average hitter in any of them.

As you can tell, I wasn’t thrilled. But I wasn’t the only one:

IKF wasn’t with us for the full season. We traded him to the Pirates for Charles McAdoo. McAdoo finished the season with the Fisher Cats, hitting .186/.287/.323 in 143 at-bats. But he’s number 7 on the Jays MLB Pipeline’s top Jays prospects.

A big and strong right-handed hitter, McAdoo surprised evaluators with his overall feel for hitting and ability to impact the baseball. He’s shown he can handle velocity and routinely turns in quality at-bats with a patient approach and limited chase. That’s allowed him to consistently find the barrel and drive the ball with above-average exit velocities, and he could grow into average power eventually.

I’m happier with that trade.

Kiner-Falefa hit .292/.338/.420 in 83 games with the Jays, much better than I expected. With the Pirates, he hit .240/.265/.322 in 50 games (more like what I expected.