At around 2:30, news broke that the Blue Jays had scheduled a 3:30 press conference. Some fans were wondering whether this had something to do with Wandy Rodriguez, who was apparently claimed on waivers by a team this afternoon. We’ve since confirmed that the press conference has nothing to do with Rodriguez, and instead, has to do with a trade the Blue Jays have made with the Diamondbacks. Toronto has sent second baseman Aaron Hill and shortstop John McDonald to the Diamondbacks for Kelly Johnson. The move reunites Johnson with former Braves teammate Yunel Escobar, at least for a month. Johnson will be a free agent at the end of next season, so this appears to be a move by the Blue Jays to attempt to get a draft pick as compensation, much like they did last offseason by trading for Miguel Olivo. Johnson is currently a type B free agent, but he’s teetering on the edge of becoming a type A.
But what about this move from Arizona’s perspective? Johnson has a .699 OPS on the season, a huge fall-off from last year, where he broke out in a big way with an .866 OPS in his debut season in the desert. After a strong July (.846 OPS), Johnson has been terrible in August with a .460 mark as the Diamondbacks have lost six in a row and have seen their lead in the NL West get whittled to one game. After Stephen Drew’s season ending fractured ankle pushed Willie Bloomquist into the starting lineup, the Diamondbacks needed an upgrade at shortstop as well.
Will this deal be enough to push the team into the playoffs? Hill is a player who has shown huge power in the past (62 homers combined in 2009 and 2010), but has fallen off a cliff this season, with only six home runs and a pathetic .583 OPS. He’s only gotten worse as the season has gone on, with a .450 OPS in August after a .575 OPS in July. As for McDonald, he’s around the same offensively as Bloomquist (.630 OPS for McDonald, .658 for Bloomquist) and it’s a lateral move offensively there if the team decides to start McDonald and move Bloomquist to the bench.
This trade may not be structured around offense, though. Johnson is by all metrics, a below average defender at second base. Hill is an above average defender, though he’s been neutral this season. Bloomquist is a neutral defender at short, while McDonald is above average at the position. Just by looking at all of the numbers, it looks like Arizona made this trade in order to upgrade their defense as opposed to upgrading their offense. McDonald and Hill are both free agents after the season, and Hill (like Johnson) is a type B free agent.
The trade was a big gamble for Arizona, as they’re taking an offensive hit in order to upgrade their defense. But because of how undervalued defense is in the grand scheme of things, it may have just been the right move.
