SAN DIEGO — The Toronto Blue Jays’ decision to send reliever Tommy Nance to the Minnesota Twins for a 21-year-old catching prospect is interesting on a couple of different levels.
First, and most obviously, the Blue Jays lose some relief depth, choosing instead to rely on the likes of Chad Dallas, who remains on the active roster even after the return of Braydon Fisher. But even without Nance, the Blue Jays “feel like we have capable guys to step in” and offer right-handed relief, according to manager John Schneider.
At the same time, this does not mean they’re about to start selling. Those large-scale decisions will come later, likely much closer to the Aug. 3 trade deadline. For now, they’re intent on winning as often as possible — and plan-A would be to contend and buy.
In the meantime, the Blue Jays were motivated to add Ryan Sprock, the right-handed-hitting catcher who recently hit .306 with an .877 OPS and had more walks (49) than strikeouts (31) for the Twins’ class-A affiliate before earning a promotion to high-A.
The $250,000 in international bonus space going to the Twins in the deal illustrates that the Blue Jays are quite intrigued by Sprock, an eighth-round pick in last year’s draft. While he wasn’t ranked among the Twins’ top prospects, the Blue Jays have done well acquiring unheralded minor leaguers in recent seasons.
The likes of Brandon Valenzuela, Yohendrick Piñango and Jay Harry weren’t seen as top prospects either — yet Valenzuela and Piñango have already contributed at the MLB level and Harry’s pushing his way closer to the majors, too.
Best-case, Sprock follows a similar path and eventually impacts the major-league team. For him to reach his ceiling he’ll have to prove he can stay behind the plate — by no means a guarantee.
The move costs the Blue Jays depth for now, and there’s only so much pitching a team can trade away but Nance was rarely trusted in high-leverage situations, never used for more than 1.2 innings at a time and out of minor-league options, so the Blue Jays were evidently prepared to trade him. The move also gives the Blue Jays an open 40-man roster spot, which they can use to claim or select a player when necessary.
Still, Schneider expressed appreciation for the 3.22 ERA Nance posted in 86.2 innings spanning three seasons with the Blue Jays.
“He did a really good job of picking up innings that we needed him to,” the manager said. “Guys like him are valuable in any bullpen where you’re reliable, you’re durable, and you have good stuff. It’s part of the business, but I think he did a great job here.”