We are now just days away from the MLB trade deadline and moves are already being made. The Toronto Blue Jays, whose disappointing season has led to them being one of the most compelling sellers this year, have already begun to move pieces as they dealt right-handed reliever Yimi Garcia to the Seattle Mariners, another team looking to make moves this week. Garcia has been a very effective late-inning reliever, something the Mariners desperately need. While it doesn’t look like the Jays will be moving any of their biggest pieces and the Mariners already made another blockbuster deal, this is a significant move for both franchises. Here is an analysis of both sides of the Yimi Garcia trade.
Yimi Garcia Trade Analysis
Seattle Mariners Acquire: Yimi Garcia, RP
The Mariners had two needs going into the deadline: some bats and some bullpen depth. They got both on Friday as they acquired Randy Arozarena from the Tampa Bay Rays before bringing in Garcia. The 33-year-old righty has had a fantastic year despite missing nearly a month due to injury. He’s put up a 2.70 ERA with a 0.80 WHIP in 30 innings of work so far this year generally working in high-leverage situations. So far 20 out of his 29 appearances have been in the eighth or ninth inning with all but five coming in a game with a greater than three-run deficit.
Garcia has a very interesting arsenal for a relief pitcher, he throws five different pitches with at least some regularity and despite throwing an upper-90s fastball he mixes his pitches very well to get outs. He uses his hard sinker and sweeper as secondary weapons against righties but rarely throws them against left-handed hitters. Instead for the lefties he primarily uses his curveball as his “out” pitch as well as a changeup to throw hitters off his fastball. This five-pitch mix has been successful for his entire career and this year is leading to some impressive numbers.
He is striking out 36.5% of batters he faces which is the seventh highest rate in baseball (min. 30 IP) while walking just seven percent of batters. Those two metrics along with his ability to limit the long ball are good for a 2.64 FIP which ranked 33rd in baseball. His ability to control the three true outcomes and his swing-and-miss stuff allows him to get away with allowing some hard contact, his 11.1% barrel rate is high, although could be an outlier as in his last two seasons it was around 6.5%. The Mariners are getting one of the most effective relievers in baseball this season and with the injury to Matt Brash, they need someone at the back end of that bullpen.
Toronto Blue Jays Acquire: Jonatan Clase, OF, and Jacob Sharp, C
The Jays are clearly in a reset phase after a disastrous first half has left them way out of contention. Trading a veteran rental like Garcia is an obvious first step. Despite his lack of control, he was very sought after due to his strong production and the importance of bullpen depth in every playoff run. The main piece of this return for Toronto is the Mariners’ tenth-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, 22-year-old outfielder Jonatan Clase.
While Clase struggled in his 19-game stint in the majors this year, he has impressive tools and has produced in Triple-A in 2024. He is most known for his speed as in 2023 he stole 79 bases across two levels of the minors, additionally he possesses 97th percentile sprint speed in the big leagues. That speed not only makes him a threat on the bases but has many scouts projecting him as a future MLB center fielder. While Clase is still young he has a mature approach at the plate, he walks 14% of the time with just a 25% strikeout rate and has sneaky pop, slugging .483 with 10 home runs in 280 Triple-A plate appearances. Clase will be an important part of a Jays organization that lacks outfield depth beyond the veterans.
As for Jacob Sharp, he is a 22-year-old catcher with very little experience in professional baseball. With this season being his first in MiLB there isn’t much to go on, although he’s been hitting pretty solid with a 105 wRC+ across 191 Single-A plate appearances. Overall, this is a very good return for the Jays, who had no reason to keep Garcia and will likely benefit from this trade years down the road. If one of Clase or Sharp end up contributing anything at the big league level in 2025 or beyond then this deal will be a win for the Blue Jays.
This was just the start to a very busy deadline week with moves being made all around the league but especially for the Jays. This deal is a great start for any sort of Jays rebuild and will likely be looked upon very positively by the fanbase in the future. On the other side, unless the Mariners go on a deep playoff run this year if Clase becomes a solid big league outfielder like many expect him to be then Seattle fans will rue this deal for years to come.
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