BREAKING : Blue Jays Trade Teoscar Hernandez

 

The Toronto Blue Jays have made the first big splash of the offseason, trading All-Star slugger Teoscar Hernandez to the Seattle Mariners. 

Full trade, confirmed to @MLBNetwork: Teoscar Hernandez dealt to #Mariners for RHP Erik Swanson and LHP Adam Macko, a Slovakian-Canadian starting pitcher.

Credit to @JeffPassan for being first with the report.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 16, 2022

In exchange, Toronto receives reliever Erik Swanson and left-handed pitching prospect Adam Macko. 

Hernandez was heading into his contract year, with free agency looming after the 2023 season. The Blue Jays are obviously heading that off with this deal, signalling that they would not have been prepared to meet his price in free agency. He was expected to earn about $14M this coming season through arbitration.

This Hernández trade clears some money for the #BlueJays, so the full view of the deal's impact only comes when we see where that money goes.

Ideally, Toronto is developing relievers like this, not trading Teoscar Hernández for them, but it's the start of something.

— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) November 16, 2022

Teo was a fan favorite and a clubhouse favorite in Toronto, and he will be missed greatly, particularly by the likes of Vladimir Geurrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, who have both grown up in the big leagues with the 30-year-old Hernandez acting as a sort of big brother. 

The Mariners get a big run-producing power bat for the middle of their order. Hernandez made his first All-Star appearance in 2021 after hitting .296 with 32 HR and 116 RBIs. This past year, he hit .267 with 25 HR. 

The 28-year-old Swanson was a top-notch reliever last season for the Mariners, striking out 11.7 batters per nine innings, while posting a 1.68 ERA in 53.2 innings. He had a 70:10 K/BB ratio.

RHP Erik Swanson is an elite back-end reliever with a 34% K rate and 4.9% walk rate. Three years of team control remaining. 29-year-old described as an awesome right on left reliever as well. His baseball savant page looks like this. pic.twitter.com/kPizlZTyEl

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) November 16, 2022

Macko is a 21-year-old lefty in High-A ball. He was Seattle's No. 8 prospect. He actually went to high school in Canada (Alberta), though he was born in Slovakia.

Photo: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports