The Blue Jays are acquiring left-handed reliever Travis Bergen from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash considerations, per various reporters (including Scott Mitchell of TSN). Right-hander Patrick Murphy is going on the 60-day injured list to clear 40-man roster space. Arizona had designated Bergen for assignment earlier this week. The teams have since announced the move.
It’s something of a homecoming for Bergen, who entered pro ball as a seventh-round pick of the Jays back in 2015. The Giants selected Bergen in the Rule 5 draft in advance of the 2019 season but returned him to Toronto in the middle of that year. The Blue Jays ultimately selected Bergen to the 40-man roster themselves, but they wound up flipping him to Arizona last summer for Robbie Ray. (Perhaps more meaningfully for the D-Backs, Toronto also agreed to pick up most of Ray’s $1.42MM salary for the 2020 stretch run).
Bergen will now team up with Ray, who re-signed with the Jays over the offseason. Despite spending most of his pro career in the Toronto organization, he’s only pitched in one MLB game as a Blue Jay. The rest of Bergen’s big league experience consists of 19.2 innings for the 2019 Giants and 6.2 innings for the Diamondbacks last year. Overall, he has a 4.82 ERA at the highest level. His 24% strikeout rate is fairly typical for a reliever, but Bergen has been plagued by a lofty 14.9% walk rate in his limited MLB time.
Between being selected in the 2019 Rule 5 draft and the lack of a minor-league season last year, Bergen has even less experience at Triple-A than he does in the big leagues. However, the 27-year-old struck out 43 against just nine walks with a 0.50 ERA in Double-A in 2018. Bergen has yet to reach arbitration and has three option years remaining, so the Jays can cheaply shuttle him back-and-forth between the majors and Triple-A Buffalo so long as he sticks on the 40-man roster.
Murphy has a sprained AC joint in his shoulder and hasn’t pitched in spring training, Mitchell notes. He made four relief appearances for Toronto last season.
The Robbie Ray trade comes full circle for Toronto.
Like the hitters Ray puts on base, may this trade come full circle
Diamond?
Is it just me or are the jays bringing back alot of players they traded away over the past few years… What happened to the jays being the hot ticket team that was going to sign every major free agent this year. All they did was bring in springer and semien to an already crowded outfield and infield respectively. They didnt improve the pitching at all it might even be worst then last year. And im still not sold on jansen as an everyday catcher.
You can’t question the Jays pitching staff. Only Jays fans can question the Yankees pitching staff and then tell you the upside the Jays staff has.
Your take is mostly right. Jays are looking to outhit teams and rely on the bullpen to hold leads. Expecting some high scores this year.
Thank you Johnny Superscout
That’s intense. Jays are definitely looking like a 3rd place team in the AL East in 2021.
Right behind the Red Sox and Rays.
It’s clearly the Orioles and then the Red Sox. The battle for third is going to be a battle.
Fellas, look!
That whyhaze guy thinks the red sox are going to win the East. He is obviously suffering from Acute Indian Fanitis. It’s a serious condition, fellas. No laughing matter.
You see, in advanced stages like this, you begin to actually see baseball backwards, man. This is a direct symptom due to swallowing so much bs from the Indian’s front office – i.e. you begin to believe highly questionable things such as the trading of your team’s best players is “smart”.
It’s generally terminal when it hits the Baseball Is Backwards stage. Prayers for his family.
@Ducky Buckin Fent- well said
Ducky.. Awesome!!
The Red Sox are not winning the AL East but they have a legit chance to surprise a lot of teams and should easily finish above .500 so long as they stay healthy. The key to Boston lies in their 4th – 6th starters until Sale get back. E-Rod, Richards & Eovaldi will be competitive more times than not and should help produce a .600 winning percentage. It’s up to Perez, Pivetta, Houck, Mata, Seabold and Ward to hold up their end of the bargain. I expect Houck to be on the Worcester to Boston shuttle quite a bit, with a spot start from Seabold, Mata and Ward from time to time. Lots to like about the surplus of healthy arms in Boston. If they can be within 4-5 games of a WC spot once Sale gets back, they have a really good shot on making it. Realistically, I’d expect between 85-90 wins for Boston. Not sure if that is good enough for a playoff birth but they could easily surpass Toronto in the standings. The Toronto rotation scares no one!
The Yankees Indians “rivalry” is the weirdest rivalry I never knew or cared about. Apparently, it goes back to something from the 1950’s(!).
Man.
Let it go. Holding on to that seems much worse than those Yankee fans that are always going on about “27 rings”.
How can you possibly hold some type of grudge – or whatever – from something that happened ~ 70 years ago? Bonkers. Completely.
Man, I got over Alomar off Rivera decades ag-…man, I mostly got over Alomar off Rivera decades ago.
whyhazee loves trolling Yankees fans and they keep falling for it.
@whyhayzee- yeah keep believing that. Not happening.
Did Big Papi n Pedro come out of retirement?
In this alternate reality I think the Brewers win the AL East.
@yank4life I’m glad all Yankees fans aren’t as obnoxious as you. You literally pop up on everything that’s Blue Jays and try to rip on them and act like them playing in Dunedin during a pandemic is some sort of shameful thing.
Considering the Yankees only finished one game above the Blue Jays last year and the Jays improved a lot more than the Yankees did this off-season I wouldn’t be so confident if I were you. All the best players on the Jays are young and just hitting their Prime so things could get interesting real quick. Their starting pitching situation isn’t really all that different. The Yankees have Cole with a bunch of question marks and the Blue Jays have Ryu and a bunch of question marks. Both teams have loaded offenses. The Yankees Rays and blue jays are going to be battling it out all summer and I suspect we won’t know who’s going to come out on top until the very end.
I think it’s amusing that you think that blue jays fans having optimism is some sort of crime that offends you so greatly that you have to show up on every blue jays thread ripping on them and trying to put them “in their place”. It’s especially amusing because you’re far more arrogant than any Blue Jays fan has been on this site.
If I was a Blue Jay’s fan I’d be very excited about the upcoming season & future, in general.
I figure the damn Ray’s’ll somehow win 90 games. I pretty much have the Yanks & Jays as 90 win teams, too.
I think it’s going to be an absolute scrum. I also firmly believe that the East sends all three squads to the postseason.
I wouldn’t be shocked if the sox played .500 ball this year, either.
Gonna be a good race.
It’ll be fun to listen to when we’re fishing. All summer long.
Hope your squad stays healthy.
See ya when I see ya.
Jays are winning nothing as this pitching staff burns out because they don’t have the talent in the rotation.
@jaysfansince93- sorry I offended you so much. I really want a competitive AL East next season. Yes, the Yankees were 1 game better then the Jays last season your right. But only 60 games were played. There playing 162 games this season. The Yankees have improved since last season. Have the Blue Jays? I do see the Jays taking 2nd place and being a Wild Card in 2021. You want to try to win the division? Sign Jake Odorizzi and trade for Luis Castillo and I think you definitely have a shot. I’m joking around about the Jays being the 3rd best team in Florida this season. I truly believe they will be the lst. Stop being so sensitive and try to laugh once in awhile. And good luck in 2021 and beyond.
Wow, Jays are going for it.
@jimmertee- definitely going to be a long year in Dunedin this season.
But is the cash the Jays pay here to acquire him less than the cash they acquired with Ray in last year’s deal? How much of an easy win was acquiring Ray now?
Send us Ray and some cash and we will give you this player. Then in six months you give us that player back and we will give you some of your money back.
Lol crazy
Some deptheroni pepperoni
Yea?
Bergen can pitch the second time through the lineup since we all know that Ray can only effectively get through a lineup once.
The rich get richer
Wait… what? You are deluding yourself if you think any one of MLBs teams isn’t rich, or that they couldn’t crank out 9 figure payrolls every year.
Also, (going off your premise instead of debunking it) calling Toronto rich is, well, rich.
Toronto is certainly much richer than Modesto.
I love all the crazy comments on depth moves. This is not a site for baseball fans, this is a site for dipshits that act like they know baseball. Just another twitter
Hide your trolls