From the Toronto Blue Jays; Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (LF - age 29) and Gabriel Moreno (C - age 22) to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Daulton Varsho (OF/C - age 26)
This trade will be felt for the next 20 years. How great a ballplayer is Gabriel Moreno? An all-star of magnificent proportions - the best fielding Catcher in the Majors with an opportunity to start with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Moreno also has probably the best shot of being a two way Catcher like that of fellow Islander Ivan 'Pudge' Rodriguez. All Moreno did two years ago in New Hampshire was bat .373 before an injury shut him down for the last half of the year. He has an absolute cannon for an arm and looks poised to dominate at the Major League level. Daulton Varsho is definitely a player the will bring the Blue Jays glory for years to come as his power numbers will surely be in the 30-40HR's/year range by coming to a talent rich offensive juggernaut (like the Blue Jays showcase currently). Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will find his game in Arizona and has a legitimate shot at becoming an all-star himself. He sure as hell will exceed his 2022 Home-Run output in 2023 for Arizona, in fact I would put him down for 20 Home-Runs next year (up from the 5 dingers he hit last year). Here are my predictions for the three players in this sweet deal for the upcoming 2023 season;
Player AB Runs 2B 3B HR RBI AVG OBP SLG% OPS SB CS
Gurriel Jr. 550 80 30 4 20 80 .287 .335 .457 .792 12 5
Moreno 507 93 30 3 14 83 .309 .359 .473 .832 10 3
Varsho 550 87 27 1 30 97 .260 .333 .485 .818 20 7
As a result of the trade this is how the Toronto Blue Jays look going into the 2023 campaign;
Manager - John Schneider
Projected Record; 101 Wins - 61 Losses
Pitching Staff G GS QS IP H BB SO W L ERA WHIP Sv
1. Alek Manoah 32 32 26 217.1 144 53 220 17 5 2.27 0.902 -
2. Kevin Gausman 33 33 21 200.0 175 37 207 15 8 2.67 1.060 -
3. Chris Bassitt 31 31 20 187.2 160 53 181 13 6 3.00 1.125 -
4. Jose Berrios 30 30 18 175.2 155 43 150 12 8 3.41 1.111 -
5. Ricky Tiedemann 15 15 11 100.0 67 33 121 9 2 2.34 1.000 -
6. Nate Pearson 30 10 6 89.1 70 33 110 8 4 3.35 1.173 1
7. Adam Cimber 70 - - 77.1 71 20 60 5 5 2.86 1.137 0
8. Yimi Garcia 65 - - 70.0 63 16 65 4 2 2.67 1.114 1
9. Zach Pop 50 - - 54.1 50 20 52 2 4 3.47 1.216 0
10.Tim Mayza 55 - - 57.0 44 12 60 3 2 2.59 0.982 4
11.Brandon Eisert 53 - - 55.1 45 20 64 2 3 2.88 1.143 0
12.Zach Logue 44 5 2 67.2 55 19 48 4 3 3.18 1.186 0
13.Erik Swanson 65 - - 62.1 40 20 78 3 3 2.24 0.968 7
14.Trevor Richards 60 - - 60.1 52 15 75 3 4 2.50 1.089 1
15.Jordan Romano 60 - - 59.2 45 18 73 1 2 2.42 1.048 44
Player AB Runs 2B 3B HR RBI AVG OBP SLG% OPS SB CS
1. Springer 520 97 33 3 33 101 .280 .370 .552 .922 12 6
2. Bichette 570 123 40 5 30 105 .303 .368 .569 .937 33 7
3. Guerrero Jr. 543 117 39 1 45 134 .290 .403 .638 1.041 5 3
4. Varsho 550 87 27 1 30 97 .260 .333 .485 .818 20 7
5. Kirk 437 79 25 0 24 85 .290 .356 .509 .865 0 1
6. Chapman 479 76 24 1 25 75 .245 .320 .430 .750 4 3
7. Biggio 451 80 30 4 13 57 .266 .343 .423 .766 17 5
8. Barger 479 79 26 3 25 83 .300 .344 .523 .867 6 2
9. Espinal 450 66 25 2 8 54 .265 .320 .400 .720 5 3
Bench
1. Jansen 330 37 15 0 12 41 .245 .324 .416 .740 0 2
2. Merrifield 301 41 15 2 7 36 .277 .326 .390 .716 15 3
3. Lopez 210 30 12 1 1 19 .255 .290 .354 .644 2 1
4. Tapia 282 37 19 1 7 40 .280 .332 .420 .752 4 2
5. Kiermaier 273 34 15 2 6 35 .263 .333 .401 .734 7 4
6. Horwitz 178 30 9 0 10 33 .277 .338 .492 .830 0 1
Depth Chart
Catchers
1. Alejandro Kirk (age 23) bats right
2. Danny Jansen (age 27) bats right
3. Daulton Varsho (age 26) bats left
4. Ryan Gold (age 24) bats left *
5. Zach Britton (age 24) bats left *
1st Basemen
1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (age 23) bats right
2. Cavan Biggio (age 27) bats left
3. Spencer Horwitz (age 24) bats left +
4. Matt Chapman (age 29) bats right
5. Rainer Nunez (age 22) bats right @
2nd Base
1. Cavan Biggio (age 27) bats left
2. Santiago Espinal (age 27) bats right
3. Whit Merrifield (age 33) bats right
4. Otto Lopez (age 24) bats right
5. Addison Barger (age 23) bats left +
3rd Base
1. Matt Chapman (age 29) bats right
2. Santiago Espinal (age 27) bats right
3. Cavan Biggio (age 27) bats left
4. Otto Lopez (age 24) bats right
5. Addison Barger (age 23) bats left +
Shortstop
1. Bo Bichette (age 24) bats right
2. Otto Lopez (age 24) bats right
3. Santiago Espinal (age 27) bats right
4. Addison Barger (age 23) bats left +
5. Vinny Capra (age 26) bats right +
Leftfield
1. Addison Barger (age 23) bats left +
2. Whit Merrifield (age 33) bats right
3. Raimel Tapia (age 28) bats left
4. Otto Lopez (age 24) bats right
5. Spencer Horwitz (age 24) bats left +
Centerfield
1. George Springer (age 32) bats right
2. Kevin Kiermaier (age 32) bats left
3. Whit Merrifield (age 33) bats right
4. Raimel Tapia (age 28) bats left
5. Cameron Eden (age 25) bats right *
Rightfield
1. Daulton Varsho (age 26) bats left
2. George Springer (age 32) bats right
3. Raimel Tapia (age 28) bats left
4. Kevin Kiermaier (age 32) bats left
5. Cavan Biggio (age 27) bats left
Designated Hitter
1. Alejandro Kirk (age 23) bats right
2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (age 23) bats right
3. George Springer (age 32) bats right
4. Daulton Varsho (age 26) bats left
5. Spencer Horwitz (age 24) bats left +
+ - played in Buffalo in 2022
* - played in New Hampshire in 2022
@ - played in Vancouver
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