The Queen City baseball team got hold of right-handed pitchers Anthony Bass and Zach Pop in exchange for infielder Jordan Groshans, 82e of major league baseball’s brightest prospects.
As part of the trade, Toronto will also acquire a player to be named later, the team announced.
For Bass, 34, it’s a comeback with the Blue Jays. He played for Toronto in 2020, taking part in 26 games.
During the season with the Miami Marlins, the American recorded the best statistics of his career. In 45 games, he maintained a 1.41 ERA per game and struck out at least one batter per inning.
As for Pop, a 25-year-old Canadian from Brampton, Ont., he also has ties to the Blue Jays. They picked him up on 23e round of the 2014 auction while in high school. However, he never signed a contract with Toronto, being drafted again three years later by the Los Angeles Dodgers with whom he began his career.
The latter is only in his second season in the Majors. He has appeared in 18 games with the Marlins this year. He pitched about twenty innings. He had taken part in 50 games last year.
A Toronto first-round pick in 2018, Jordan Groshans was playing in Buffalo this year, with the Jays-affiliated team at the AAA level. He had never made the jump to MLB before.
By trading Groshans, the Jays gave up three of their last four first-round picks in the MLB Draft. Gunnar Hoglund (2021) and Austin Martin (2020) were traded for Matt Chapman and José Berríos, respectively.
Toronto also announced that left-handed reliever Andrew Vasquez has been claimed off waivers by the Philadelphia Phillies. He had played only nine games this season and his ERA was 8.10.
Reliever Anthony Banda has been designated for assignment by the Torontonians.
