One year ago today the Jays traded Brandon League and Johermyn Chavez to Seattle for Brandon Morrow. As you can see, in the comments of Hugo's post announcing the trade, the immediate reaction was mixed (and surprising heated). League was a favorite of some (myself included) and, well, an example of all that is wrong with humanity to others.
A year later the trade looks pretty good. League didn't have a bad season, he went 9-7, with a 3.42 ERA. But then his strikeout to walk rate dropped from 3.62 to 2.07. Walking more and striking out less doesn't seem like a recipe for success but his BABIP dropped from .322 in 2009 to .265 in 2010.
Morrow started off the season terrible and had us debating if he ever could be a good starter, but then a bit of an adjustment by the coaches and suddenly he was the best pitcher in our rotation. And he gave us the best game of our season. On August 8th he threw a one hitter with 17 strikeouts and just 2 walks.
After a year, we clearly are the ones winning the trade. The wild card is Johermyn Chavez. If he develops into a good outfielder, that would change the way the trade. And, of course, there is no evidence that the Mariners would have been able to help him become the pitcher that he became for us. But at the moment, it looks like a very good trade for us.
Is there any chance that Alex will pull off a big trade this close to Christmas again this year?
Two years ago I took a look at our possibilities were for the shortstop position. Happily, in hindsight, I was right that the Jays should go with Marco Scutaro, though I was very wrong in thinking he shouldn't be allowed to lead off. Then who expected him to learn hit at the age of 33?