Troy Tulowitzki to Blue Jays: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction

The Colorado Rockies will be looking for a new face of the franchise. After nine-plus years with the team, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was reportedly traded early Tuesday morning.According to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, hewas dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays. Rosenthal added that Jose Reyes and minor leaguers will be headed to Colorado, while LaTroy Hawkins will join Tulowitzki in Toronto. One of the minor league prospects is Triple-A pitcher Miguel Castro, per Jon Morosi of Fox Sports. No money was exchanged in the deal, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.Sending Reyes to the Rockies makes sense, since it allows Tulowitzki free rein at shortstop. Although, a middle infield with those two together would’ve been electric.Reyes might not be in Denver very long. Heyman hypothesized the Rockies could look to flip him before the deadline:The 32-year-old is averaging .285 with a .322 on-base percentage and 16 stolen bases. Some team would likely trade one or two future assets for Reyes, even though doing so would come with a heavy financial commitment. Regarding contracts, Thomas Harding of MLB.com noted Tulowitzki is owed $108 million through the 2020 season, while Reyes is owed $44 million over the next two years. Rosenthal added Tulowitzki would receive a $2 million assignment bonus for getting traded, and his contract converts to include a full no-trade clause.Rotoworld’s Matthew Pouliot joked the rich are getting richer with the addition of a hitter like Tulowitzki:Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wondered if Toronto is ignoring a key area that needs addressing:In a way, it’s a bit ironic Tulowitzki will be headed north of the border. Blue Jays fans never forgot the fact the team opted for Ricky Romero instead of the All-Star shortstop in the 2005 MLB draft. A decade later, he’ll be suiting up for the Jays.This is a surprising change of heart for the Rockies, though not an entirely unexpected one. According to Rosenthal, the front office started to consider trades forTulowitzki and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez in early November:The Rockies, under new general manager Jeff Bridich, are not shopping either player or starting a fire sale, sources say. But team officials finally seem to have persuaded owner Dick Monfort to consider all possibilities.A year ago at this time, Monfort said of Tulowitzki and Gonzalez, The plan is to keep them. Next year, yes. And my plan is to always keep them.Tulowitzki and Gonzalez are incredible talents with two major flaws. Neither one has been able to stay healthy for most of their careers. Tulo, in particular, has only played in more than 100 games once in the last three years and hasn’t appeared in 150 since 2009.While that salary doesn’t necessarily look like as much of an albatross with the way baseball contracts have exploded over the years, it’s still not cheap. It’s even more expensive if you have to bookmark at least 30 games per season in which he won’t play.At his best, Tulowitzki has been an MVP-caliber player. A shortstop who can lead the league in average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage with elite defense is the best player in baseball. Despite the nagging injuries, he’s never had a problem putting up numbers when healthy.In fact, Tulowitzki’s worst statistical season as a full-time player was in 2008 (.263/.332/.401). That’s basically what Jhonny Peralta hit in 2014 (.263/.336/.443) when he led all MLB shortstops with 5.3 wins above replacement, perFanGraphs.Tulo is a rare, dynamic, game-changing talent who has done things no other shortstop is capable of. There’s significant risk for his new team, but the upside is off the charts.If you want to talk sports, hit me up on Twitter.

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