They traded Gold Glove second baseman Andrés Giménez to the Blue Jays at the winter meetings to get out from under the almost $100 million they owed him. They continued the pattern on Friday by sending another Gold Glove defender, Myles Straw, to Toronto for a player to be named.
Toronto acquired $2 million in international signing bonus pool allocation from the Cleveland Guardians that could be used in its pursuit of Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki as part of a trade Friday that also brought unperforming outfielder Myles Straw to the Blue Jays.
Myles Straw had become an afterthought for the Cleveland Guardians after barely appearing with them during the 2024 MLB season.
The transaction, announced by the Guardians on X, also includes the transfer of international bonus pool space to Toronto.
As the Blue Jays wait for Roki Sasaki's final decision, they swung a trade with the Guardians for an intriguing outfielder.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Toronto’s bid for Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki ended late last week when the right-hander signed with the Dodgers. But just before Sasaki announced his decision, Cleveland was able to leverage the Blue Jays' eagerness to add international signing pool money in order to get out from under Myles Straw’s bad contract.
The Toronto Blue Jays acquired outfielder Myles Straw in a deal with the Cleveland Guardians on Friday. Toronto received Straw, $3.75 million US cash considerations and $2 million in international signing bonus pool space for the 2025 period from Cleveland, which received a player to be named later or cash considerations.
This is the second trade this offseason, which has given the Guardians future payroll flexibility. Following the Straw trade, it's time the front office took advantage of that. There are two areas in which the Guardians could re-invest this money.
An outstanding defensive infielder, Gabriel Arias may get a chance to initially win the second base job for the Guardians.
Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report identified Cleveland's biggest hole as their rotation depth. One veteran he's urging the Guardians to sign to fill this need is LHP Ryan Yarbrough. "Yarbrough has been a successful swingman throughout his career, so he can fill a bulk relief role and wait in the wings for when a rotation need arises," wrote Reuter.
CLEVELAND -- The Guardians have dealt another player to Toronto. The team announced Friday morning that outfielder Myles Straw had been traded to the Blue Jays along with international bonus pool money and cash in exchange for a player to be named or cash.
Guardians fans knew Andres Gimenez, Nick Sandlin and Josh Naylor reasonably well. The same cannot be said for Spencer Horwitz. Horwitz, to be fair, wasn’t a Guardian long enough to slip on a uniform jersey and cap as most players do at a press conference after they’ve been acquired in a trade.