Off-season question for every Eastern Conference team
With some hires, signings and — potentially — still a meaningful trade or two to come, Ryan Dixon takes a look at one lingering question for each NHL team in the Eastern Conference.
PHOENIX — Last fall, long after the Toronto Blue Jays had been eliminated from the post-season, Daulton Varsho followed from afar as his previous team played in the World Series. He was happy for his Diamondbacks teammates, the guys he’d played with in the minors, but it wasn’t easy to be removed from it all either.
“Obviously it kind of sucked,” Varsho recalled.
It didn’t help that Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., the players for whom he was traded, both played key roles for that Diamondbacks team. A year later, though, Varsho said he’s no longer putting pressure on himself to make good on the trade.
“I did that a lot last year,” Varsho said. “This year’s been a little different. I’m trying to get back to who I am. Knowing that I’m Daulton, and Daulton’s good enough.”
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Playing at Chase Field for the first time since being traded to Toronto Friday, it was Varsho’s chance to remind the Diamondbacks what they’re missing. He hit a leadoff triple in the seventh to help the Blue Jays take a late lead, and the visitors seemed to be headed for a grind-it-out win until the Blue Jays’ bullpen allowed three late runs and the Diamondbacks won 5-4.
Two walks by Trevor Richards came around to score in the eighth and another free pass by Chad Green proved costly in the ninth when Corbin Carroll raced home on a sacrifice fly by Geraldo Perdomo, beating a throw by Varsho.
“The walks, with these guys running the bases, you’re kind of asking for trouble,” manager John Schneider said afterwards. “That was kind of the difference there. You’ve got to make the adjustment going forward.”
Now, none of this is an attempt to re-litigate a trade the Diamondbacks have clear reason to be thrilled with. But coming back to Chase Field means something to Varsho, who played here for three seasons before the Blue Jays acquired him in December of 2022. While it wasn’t the outcome he or the Blue Jays wanted, he did contribute to an offence that scored all four of its runs on productive outs.
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“I love the way we manufactured,” Schneider said. “Productive at-bats … I thought the offence did a really nice job of pecking away and adding on.”
Yariel Rodriguez started the game for the Blue Jays, offering four innings of two-run baseball while striking out seven. But with an inflated pitch count of 82 through four innings, the Blue Jays went to the bullpen.
The decision to pull Rodriguez was understandable, but the results were poor, as has often been the case for this bullpen. Now, Rodriguez closes out his first half season as a big-league pitcher with a 3.78 ERA in 33.1 innings.
“A great experience,” Rodriguez said through interpreter Hector Lebron. “I’m going to continue to keep working hard. I do believe I’ve been getting better every outing, and I’m going to try to take that into the second half.”
While Rodriguez’s first half includes many positives, the same can’t be said for Toronto’s relievers. Entering play Monday, the Blue Jays had the second-worst bullpen ERA in baseball, their 4.86 mark ahead of the Colorado Rockies and no one else. If they intend to compete in 2025, improving on this bullpen is a must.
Meanwhile, there was a significant development for the Blue Jays before the game began. Kevin Kiermaier had been on waivers earlier in the week, meaning any team could have claimed him for only the cost of his remaining salary – approximately $4 million at this point in the season.
But he cleared, meaning no team valued him at that cost, and now he remains with a Blue Jays team that was prepared to see him leave for nothing.
“I’m not pissed,” Kiermaier said. “I totally get it. It’s different in the sense that they were willing to give me away but they want to keep me around. That’s the weird part.”
The Blue Jays could still trade Kiermaier, and some industry observers still see that as the most likely outcome here if the Blue Jays are willing to eat some money. But in the meantime, it’s the status quo for Kiermaier, who started in centre field for the Blue Jays again Friday.
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“We’re going to treat him no differently,” said Schneider. “It’s a business (and) transaction part of the game. The fact that he gets that is most important part of that. Now we’ve just got to go out and focus on playing. And Kev’s overcome stuff his whole career.”
Of course the Blue Jays’ decision to put Kiermaier on waivers also acknowledges to other teams that their off-season plan isn’t working as intended. It’s not quite an open-for-business sign, but it’s the clearest indication yet that the Blue Jays are willing to listen on players whose contracts expire after the season.
“I understand why,” Kiermaier said. “These things happen and it’s because my play has not been where it needs to be. I totally understand that.”
“It’s just a weird situation overall,” he continued. “But whatever happens from here on out I’m very proud of how my career has gone. It’s been such an amazing journey. And even still, here in this situation, I don’t know what’s going to come of it, but the unknown’s always been exciting for me.”
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