In 2018, the Blue Jays were in between eras. The previous core that took them to the ALCS in 2015 and 2016 was essentially gone. José Bautista bounced from Atlanta to the Mets to the Phillies in what would eventually be his final season. Edwin Encarnación was with Cleveland. Josh Donaldson was still technically on the team but spent most of the year on the injured list and eventually got flipped to Cleveland in a waiver trade as the season was winding down. The Jays leaders in WAR at Baseball Reference and FanGraphs were Justin Smoak and Randal Grichuk, respectively. The club and its fans were looking forward to a new core formed by prospects like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette though they wouldn’t debut until the following season.

As the Jays got to June 29, they were sporting a record of 38-43. Though that was just a few games below .500, they were already well back in the postseason race. The Yankees were at 53-26 while the Red Sox were 55-28, leaving the Jays 16 games back in the AL East. One of those clubs was also a lock for a Wild Card spot, of which there were only two at the time. With the Mariners and Athletics also off to good starts, the Jays were already 13 games back in the Wild Card race.

The trade deadline was still a month away but there was little reason for the Jays not to consider selling. Steve Pearce was an obvious candidate to move, as he was an impending free agent in his age-35 season. The Jays had signed him to a two-year, $12.5MM deal going into 2017. Pearce had long been an effective role player in the majors, carrying himself well at the plate while also having enough defensive versatility to play first base or the outfield corners. He had also had brief spells at second and third base, though 2016 was the last year for him at either of those spots.

Of course, as a role player, there were weak points to his game as well. For one thing, he was best utilized in the weak side of a platoon, as a right-handed hitter who fared much better against lefties. He eventually finished his career with a robust .264/.347/.491 line against southpaws that translated into a 126 wRC+. His output against righties was .247/.324/.410 for a 100 wRC+, or league average.

Another issue with Pearce was health, as he had made frequent trips to the injured list for various ailments in his career. The 102 games he played with the Orioles in 2014 were the most he ever tallied. Those injury concerns continued into his time with the Blue Jays, as he only played 92 games in 2017 thanks in part to a calf injury that cost him over a month. In 2018, he landed on the IL in early May with an oblique strain and didn’t return until June 22.

Nonetheless, the Red Sox were intrigued enough by Pearce to acquire him just a week after he came off the injured list. The Jays included $1.66MM in the deal, a bit more than half of what Pearce was still owed for the remainder of the campaign. That was surely important to the Sox at the time as it kept them from going more than $40MM beyond that year’s luxury tax line, as doing so would have meant their top draft pick in the 2019 draft was pushed back by 10 spots. The club did eventually go over that line by acquiring Nathan Eovaldi and Ian Kinsler at the deadline, but the Jays eating some money in the Pearce deal kept the Sox shy of that line for the time being as they contemplated their options.

In exchange for giving up Pearce and a bit of money, the Jays received infielder Santiago Espinal. A 10th-round draft pick of the Sox in 2016, his prospect stock was on the rise at the time of the deal. In 2017, he had hit just four home runs in 123 Single-A games, slashing .280/.334/.358 for a wRC+ of 102. In the first half of 2018, he already had seven home runs in 65 High-A games, leading to a .313/.363/.477 slash and 136 wRC+.

Espinal then went through Double-A and Triple-A in 2019 before making his major league debut in the shortened 2020 season. His .267/.308/.333 line that year wasn’t especially impressive, but he got strong defensive grades playing mostly shortstop, as Bichette spent close to a month on the injured list with a knee sprain.

At the very least, Espinal seemed like a solid depth piece but he moved a bit beyond that in the next two seasons, earning fairly regular playing time. In 2021, he was frequently optioned to the minors and also spent close to a month on the injured list due to a hip flexor strain but still got into 92 games. The club had signed Marcus Semien to play second base and bumped Cavan Biggio to third, but Biggio made multiple trips to the IL due to back issues. Espinal filled in admirably with a .311/.376/.405 line, stealing six bases and getting good defensive grades at the hot corner. He finished that year with 1.9 wins above replacement in the eyes of FanGraphs and 2.4 according to Baseball Reference.

Going into 2022, Semien signed with the Rangers and the Jays acquired Matt Chapman to play third, moving the Espinal/Biggio tandem over to second base. Espinal ended up essentially as an everyday player, getting 491 plate appearances in 135 games. His .267/.322/.370 line amounted to a wRC+ of 99 while he also swiped another six bags and continued to be graded very well on defense. He was selected to the All-Star team that summer and eventually tallied 2.3 fWAR and 2.2 bWAR.

Espinal started 2023 slow and just came back from the injured list this evening, but the Jays have to be quite happy with how the trade turned out. They exchanged a 35-year-old role player and impending free agent for a prospect who has become a valuable supporting member of their new competitive window. He has already tallied 4.3 fWAR for his career and 5.0 bWAR and can be retained via arbitration through 2026.

Of course, the Red Sox have no regrets about their end of the deal. Pearce stayed healthy for the remainder of 2018 and went on a tear. He hit seven home runs in 50 games for the Sox down the stretch, slashing .279/.394/.507 for a wRC+ of 143 as Boston went 108-54, their best record in franchise history. They then cruised through the postseason, beating the Yankees 3-1 in the ALDS, the Astros 4-1 in the ALCS and the Dodgers 4-1 in the World Series. Pearce hit four home runs in that postseason run and produced a line of .289/.426/.658. Three of those home runs came in the World Series, including two in the final game, leading to Pearce being named MVP of the series.

The Sox re-signed Pearce for 2019, but he got into just 29 games while dealing with back spasms in what ultimately proved to be his final season. Nonetheless, this looks like a trade that worked out extremely well for both sides. The Sox got a complementary player who caught fire at the right time and helped them win a title. The Jays, meanwhile, weren’t in a position to take advantage of that explosion but turned it into a solid piece of their future.

Pearce, who turned 37 yesterday, had already indicated he was unlikely to resume his playing career. Though he kept the door open late last year, he has now put to rest any possibility of a surprise return.

Last year turned out to be an injury-ruined disappointment — hardly the only time that Pearce’s body has betrayed him over the years. He managed to appear in 13 campaigns and achieve a full decade of MLB service in spite of his many health woes, but was limited to 2,555 plate appearances over that span.

Now that he has formally wrapped up his playing career, we can put a final wrap on it. Pearce owns a cumulative .254/.332/.440 batting line with 91 home runs. He appeared with seven organizations at the game’s highest level: the Pirates, Orioles, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Rays, Yankees, and Astros.

Pearce will be remembered most for his surprising breakout years in Baltimore and his brief but notable late run in Boston. He entered his age-30 season with a completely unremarkable record in the majors. He ended up making virtually his entire contribution at the game’s highest level over the ensuing six-year stretch (2013-18), over which he recorded a .266/.347/.479 slash (123 OPS+).

After moving to the Red Sox at the 2018 deadline, Pearce delivered a monster effort down the stretch before a three-homer showing in the 2018 World Series that earned him the MVP award for the series. In his recent comments, Pearce rejected the notion that the 2018 Red Sox benefited from illicit sign-stealing efforts — a matter that still remains unresolved by league investigation, at least publicly.

Pearce surpassed ten years of MLB service last year, as Bradford notes. That entitles him to a full pension, an achievement that once seemed exceptionally unlikely. An eighth-round pick in 2005, Pearce made it to the majors with the Pirates and appeared briefly with the Bucs in five major league campaigns. But he departed the organization with little fanfare and struggled to find a new home elsewhere.

Through 2012, Pearce had managed just 709 MLB plate appearances of 82 OPS+ hitting in stints with four clubs. He showed a bit of life in a 44-game sample in his age-30 season, but still ended up being designated for assignment early in the ensuing campaign.

That’s when Pearce morphed from a little-known 4-A player to a sudden star hitter. He made the unusual decision to reject a late-April claim in order to return to the O’s after the DFA. And then he raked. Pearce finished the 2014 campaign with a .293/.373/.556 batting line and 21 home runs over 383 plate appearances.

Pearce ultimately appeared in 13 MLB campaigns, logging 2,555 plate appearances of .254/.332/.440 hitting. There were some peaks and valleys, and quite a few injury layoffs, along the way. He never once reached 400 plate appearances in a given season. But Pearce will finish off his career having produced solidly above-average offensive numbers.

Never regarded much for his glovework, Pearce nevertheless proved capable of stepping in all over the diamond, allowing teams to shoehorn his bat into the lineup. He saw action at first base, left field, right field, second base, and third base (in that order of frequency).

When he wasn’t working back to health or going through a rough patch, Pearce provided big output at times for the Orioles, Rays, Blue Jays, and Red Sox. He also appeared earlier in his career with the Yankees, making him the rare player to have donned every uniform in a single division. Pearce will no doubt be remembered most in the long haul for his indelible mark on Boston sports history, as his three-homer output in the 2018 World Series earned him an MVP award on the game’s biggest stage.

Pearce returned to the Red Sox in 2019 but struggled badly before back and knee injuries wrecked his season. While he isn’t yet ready to file his paperwork, it seems the 36-year-old won’t actively pursue a job this winter. That’s plenty understandable, as he’d no doubt need to earn his way onto a big-league roster on a minor-league deal. Pearce is to be congratulated for persisting through early-career setbacks and frequent health problems. MLBTR wishes him the best in his future endeavors.

Last season ended in storybook fashion for the long-time role player as he turned in a historic performance for his favorite team from childhood, the Boston Red Sox. The 36-year-old was acquired from the Blue Jays in June mostly to serve as a right-handed option at first base, but he reached another gear at the biggest time of the year. In five games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pearce went 4-12 with a .500 OBP, 3 home runs, and 8 RBIs in earning MVP honors.

As incredible as last season ended, however, this season was an equal disaster. In just 29 games, Pearce turned in a miserable .180/.245/.258 line worth -0.6 bWAR, last appearing at the end of May while suffering from back and knee injuries. Pearce was just one part of the topsy-turvy season in Boston, though his reversal-of-fortune was perhaps the most extreme.

Pearce holds a career line of .254/.332/.440 while playing parts of 13 seasons for the Pirates, Orioles, Astros, Yankees, Rays, Blue Jays, and Red Sox, notably appearing in uniform for all five teams in the AL East. On his potential retirement, Pearce said, “I would have liked to have gone out a little bit different. If this year was a little bit different. But that’s baseball. That’s why it’s the most beautiful game in the world.”

It’s hard to believe 2019 has been so dreadful for Pearce, one of the main heroes of the Red Sox’s championship run a year ago. The midseason trade acquisition was an offensive force with two teams (Boston and Toronto) during the regular season and continued his torrid pace in the playoffs, earning World Series MVP honors for the Red Sox’s five-game triumph against the Dodgers.

As great as Pearce was in 2018, he only appeared in 76 games then. This season, thanks largely to a lower back strain that has shelved him since May 31, Pearce has played in a mere 29 contests. When he has entered the batters box, the once-potent Pearce has slashed a miserable .180/.245/.258 with one home run and a microscopic .079 ISO in 99 plate appearances. That obviously isn’t what the Red Sox had in mind when they re-signed Pearce to a $6.25MM guarantee last November. Considering his meager production since inking that deal, free agency certainly won’t be as kind to the 36-year-old Pearce during the upcoming offseason.

The Red Sox can still control Wright next year, his last season of arbitration eligibility, but he has joined Pearce in enduring a nightmarish campaign. Wright began the year serving an 80-game suspension after a failed PED test, thus keeping him from debuting until late June, and then went on the IL in mid-July with a right foot contusion. The 34-year-old right-hander – a former All-Star – has thrown 6 1/3 innings this season and allowed six earned runs on 11 hits (including three home runs) and four walks.

In better news for Boston, there’s a “good chance” righty reliever Heath Hembree will pitch again this season, manager Alex Cora told Cotillo. Hembree went down with an elbow strain Aug. 2 – the second time the joint forced him to the IL in 2019. The elbow problems have helped lead to middling results for Hembree, he of the 4.06 ERA/4.91 FIP with 10.75 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and a paltry 21.8 percent groundball rate in 37 2/3 innings.

Owings, who’s immediately getting a chance to start at second base and lead off for Boston in this afternoon’s game against the Angels, played his way back to the big leagues with a monster showing in Triple-A. The 27 year-old slashed .325/.385/.595 over 183 plate appearances with Pawtucket, blasting 11 home runs along the way. He also struck out in 27.3% of his Triple-A plate appearances, though, and he’s never been much of a power threat before his barrage in the International League. Clearly, the introduction of the MLB ball to Triple-A has inflated Owings’ power output, but he’ll obviously have the luxury of hitting with the same ball at the game’s highest level.

Even still, it’s tough to imagine Owings emerging as a major offensive threat in Boston. The 27 year-old was a below-average hitter every year with the Diamondbacks between 2014 and 2018, and he struggled mightily after signing a one-year contract this offseason with the Royals. Owings slashed .133/.193/.222 with a 37.9% strikeout rate over 145 plate appearances before being released June 4. Only Zack Cozart (-13 wRC+) has put up a worse offensive performance than Owings (6 wRC+) among players with at least 100 plate appearances this year.

Even if he’s not much of a threat in the box, though, Owings is a plus baserunner with ample experience up-the-middle defensively. Defensive metrics haven’t traditionally loved him at shortstop, but he’s rated well at the keystone, where he seems likely to get the most work in Boston. He also transitioned well to center field in Arizona, giving the Red Sox some additional outfield depth on hand, even if it’s tough to imagine him spending much time on the grass in Fenway.

The IL transfer for Pearce is entirely procedural. He hit the 10-day IL June 1 with a lower back strain, so he’s already exceeded the 60-day minimum on the shelf. We last heard about Pearce a month ago, when the organization confirmed he was “nowhere close” to returning. It’s been a lost season for the reigning World Series MVP, who hit just .180/.245/.258 before hitting the shelf for the long haul.

Velázquez has logged 48 big league innings in 2019 as a swingman. He’ll be optioned for the second time this year, reflecting his subpar MLB results. Velázquez has worked to a 5.81 ERA with mediocre strikeout (21.6%) and walk (10.6%) rates.

While Boston undoubtedly expected the good times to continue rolling for Pearce in 2019, he has instead trudged through a season defined by underperformance and injuries. After starting the campaign on the shelf because of a strained left calf, Pearce debuted in early April and proceeded to hit a ghastly .180/.245/.258 (29 wRC+) with one home run in 99 plate appearances through May. The Red Sox sent Pearce back to the IL on June 1 with back problems. Pearce hasn’t returned to action since then, owing largely to the posterior ligament knee injury he suffered while on a rehab stint. A month and a half later, he’s still not slated to make his way back to the majors anytime soon, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.

Manager Alex Cora issued an update Thursday on Pearce, saying he’s “just rehabbing” at the team’s complex in Fort Myers, Fla., and not “even close to (being) back.” As of now, Pearce isn’t “participating in many baseball activities” and is only hitting off a tee, Smith writes.

The absences of Pearce and Mitch Moreland (who has taken two at-bats since late May) have thrown a wrench into the plans Boston had at first base entering the season. The righty-swinging Pearce and the left-handed Moreland were supposed to be the Red Sox’s solution at the position. Rookie Michael Chavis, who had been at second base, has instead emerged as the team’s starter at first with Pearce and Moreland unavailable. Meanwhile, Brock Holt and Marco Hernandez have taken the reins at second, which played a part in the Red Sox’s decision to to designate struggling veteran Eduardo Nunez for assignment this week. Moreland’s due back soon, Smith notes, though it’s not yet clear how the Red Sox will dole out playing time at first and second when he returns.

The 25-year-old Kelley was a 36th-round pick in 2015 and was left unprotected from the Rule 5 draft last winter. He has generally succeeded in the minors with low home run and hefty infield fly rates. The soft-tossing sidearmer has been devastating against lefty hitters at Triple-A this year, holding them to a collective .077/.172/.115 slash. Kelley has allowed just four earned in 37 2/3 innings this year for Pawtucket, with 34 strikeouts and 12 walks.

There are a few other roster maneuvers out of Boston as well. Infielder Tzu-Wei Lin was activated from the IL and optioned. Corner utilityman Steve Pearce will remain on the shelf; his lower back issue evidently isn’t progressing as hoped, as his rehab assignment was cut off. Finally, Sam Travis is going back to Triple-A after 26th-man service in London.

The latest from around the AL East…

• The Red Sox re-signed Steve Pearce on a one-year, $6.25MM contract last November in the wake of Pearce’s epic performance as the World Series MVP.  The deal looked like a solid move at the time, though as the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham notes, now looks like a misstep given Pearce’s rough 2019 season.  Pearce has slashed just .180/.245/.258 over 99 plate appearances, and is currently on the IL with back spasms.  Considering that many comparable first base/DH types of free agents signed for considerably less than Pearce’s $6.5MM guarantee last offseason, the contract now looks like an overpay in hindsight.  A few million dollars normally wouldn’t be a big issue for a wealthy team like the Red Sox, though with the Sox wanting to stay under the $246MM maximum penalty luxury tax threshold, Abraham notes that signing Pearce to a smaller deal (or letting him go altogether) would have freed up more money for Boston to pursue some needed bullpen help, either in the offseason or at the deadline.
• Could Justin Smoak go from trade candidate to extension candidate?  As Ken Rosenthal opines in his latest FOX Sports video update, the Blue Jays’ efforts to deal Smoak at the deadline could be hampered by the fact that teams have been increasingly hesitant to give much up for veteran first base/DH players.  Smoak’s age (32) and status as a rental player could also work against the Jays in netting any significant return for the first baseman.  With this in mind, Rosenthal suggests that Toronto could explore retaining Smoak as a veteran leader to help the club through its rebuild, perhaps on a one- or two-year extension to split first base and DH duties with Rowdy Tellez.  Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s ability to stick at third base will factor into such a decision, of course, and I’d also add that the Blue Jays might not want to return to a fairly inflexible first base/DH situation so soon after parting ways with Kendrys Morales.
• While the Orioles have suffered from disastrous pitching, their everyday lineup has featured some unexpected bright spots, the Baltimore Sun’s Peter Schmuck writes.  Names like Renato Nunez, Dwight Smith Jr., Pedro Severino, and Hanser Alberto were all acquired in unheralded fashion over the last year, yet all four have delivered decent to above-average production at the plate.  Some of this could stem from a simple increase in playing time, as all four players are getting the chance at regular at-bats for the first time.  Severino, whose .268/.351/.474 slash line through 112 PA dwarfs his previous output as a member of the Nationals, noted that “My job over there [in Washington] was to have the mentality to win the game and call a good game and not think about my offense….It was tough to play once a week and take one at-bat in the ninth inning against a good closer. That’s really tough.”  It remains to be seen if any of this quartet will develop into long-term pieces for the rebuilding Orioles, though if nothing else, the O’s could have some extra trade chips to consider for the July 31st deadline.

Pearce was removed from yesterday’s game in the second inning after experiencing back spasms. The rest itself may not be the worst thing for Pearce, who has struggled to get going after being crowned World Series MVP to end 2018. While rarely an everyday player throughout his career, more was certainly expected from Pearce than the .180/.245/.258 line he currently owns – and that’s after some improvement of late.

It’s not a lost season for Pearce, who with only 89 at-bats has more than enough time to raise his numbers, even if his stint on the injured list proves lengthy. A rehab assignment wherein he has the opportunity to play everyday and get into a rhythm could do Pearce some good as well, should they take that route upon his return.

For Travis, the 25-year-old Chicagoan is no stranger to the Red Sox, for whom he has appeared in every season since 2017. This will be his second stint with the club this year after going 2-7 in Boston’s opening series of the year against Seattle. Since then, Travis has slashed .251/.359/.371 in 49 games with Pawtucket. As a right-handed hitter, Travis can slot right into Pearce’s role on the lesser half of a platoon with regular first baseman Mitch Moreland.

Pearce, 35, was picked up in a relatively unheralded late-June swap with the Blue Jays. He more or less took the role that had been played by Hanley Ramirez to open the year, and ended up delivering more value than the Sox probably anticipated.

By the end of the 2018 regular season, Pearce had compiled an excellent .284/.378/.512 batting line and 11 home runs over 251 total plate appearances. He bettered that in the postseason, turning in a 1.083 OPS in 47 plate appearances and ultimately taking home World Series MVP honors owing to some timely long balls.

Pearce did not fully establish himself in the big leagues until he had passed his thirtieth birthday. Since then, though, he has mostly been an excellent offensive producer — at least, when healthy. Rather surprisingly, Pearce has still yet to take even 400 plate appearances in a given season.

It seems clear that the Red Sox will continue to seek to get Pearce’s bat whenever possible against left-handed pitching. While he has historically been a solid hitter even without the platoon advantage, Pearce has bombed opposing southpaws.

Odds are, Pearce will see most of his time by sharing the action at first base with Mitch Moreland. He could also pick up some time in the DH slot when J.D. Martinez steps into the outfield or gets a rest. And it’s certainly possible that Pearce could see some time at other spots around the diamond as well. He has experience in the corner outfield as well as second and third base, though surely he won’t be seen as the best-defending option at those spots.

This move likely forecloses some other conceivable avenues to boosting the Red Sox offense — not that it needs it, or that Pearce won’t suffice. That said, the club still has some potential uncertainty at second and perhaps even third base, though it certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see the organization decide to rely upon existing options there. Otherwise, Dave Dombrowski and co. will presumably dedicate most of their offseason energy to pursuing improvements behind the plate and on the mound — and, perhaps, trying to gain traction on contract talks with a few current stars.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Presumably, this list includes only one name: closer Craig Kimbrel. Boston could look to replace him with in-house options, the top candidates being Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier (twitter links). If Kimbrel does depart, bolstering the bullpen could very well become a focus of the Boston offseason – especially if fellow free agent Joe Kelly follows Kimbrel out the door.

One player who definitely won’t be receiving a qualifying offer is Nathan Eovaldi – he is ineligible after being acquired mid-season from the Rays. Competition for the right-hander is expected to be fierce after his gutsy playoff performance with the Red Sox. Fellow mid-season acquisitions Steve Pearce and Ian Kinsler are also ineligible to receive qualifying offers.

On the health front, MLB.com’s Ian Browne was among those to confirm that Chris Sale is not expected to undergo offseason surgery (via Twitter). The lanky left-hander needs only rest to be ready for Spring Training. Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald adds (via Twitter) that the team is hopeful that Dustin Pedroia will be ready in time for Spring Training, though that is far less certain.

The catching situation in Boston remains a crowded, but capable field. It is unlikely that Boston will head into next season with all three of Christian Vazquez, Sandy Leon and Blake Swihart on the active roster – but it’s not an impossibility (Twitter link). Boston experimented with using Swihart in a superutility role last season, but it’s unclear whether or not Boston believes that’s a sustainable solution moving forward.

On the whole, Dombrowski is understandably pleased with the current state of the Red Sox and would be happy to bring back the entire squad as currently constituted for 2019, per the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. Thus far, the Red Sox have kept David Price in the fold after he forewent his opt-out clause, as well as Eduardo Nunez, who picked up his $5MM option for 2019. It will obviously be expensive to keep this core together long-term, but as of now, Boston ownership has not mentioned staying under the luxury tax as a priority for 2019.

June 28: The Red Sox have acquired infielder/outfielder Steve Pearce from the Blue Jays, per a club announcement. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe had reported that the team was close to acquiring a right-handed-hitting player (via Twitter).

Minor-leaguer Santiago Espinal will head to the Jays in return. Toronto will also send some cash to their division rivals to help offset Pearce’s salary. The amount of cash remains unknown.

Pearce, 35, was set to return to the open market after the season, when his two-year contract will expire. He’s earning $6.25MM this year, some portion of which will remain on the Toronto books. Pearce, interestingly, has now appeared with each of the five AL East organizations, in addition to time spent with the Astros and Pirates.

To this point of the season, Pearce has been limited to 26 games of action due to injury — a recurring problem for a player who has otherwise generally been quite productive. He’s slashing a robust .291/.349/.519 through 86 plate appearances in 2018. Since the start of the 2013 campaign, he owns a cumulative 121 OPS+. When healthy, then, he’s a rather accomplished hitter — especially against left-handed pitching.

While his calling card is his bat, Pearce also brings solid versatility to the table. He has shown an ability to perform at least passably in the corner outfield, corner infield,and even at second base. For Boston, Pearce could share time at first with the lefty-swinging Mitch Moreland and perhaps also line up at times in left. Whether he’ll be an option at second isn’t yet clear, though that has certainly been an area of some attention given concerns over Dustin Pedroia. (For what it’s worth, the announcement lists Pearce specifically as a first baseman and outfielder.)

With the move, the Jays have likely launched a long-anticipated summer sell-off. Given the state of affairs in the division, and a tough Wild Card race as well, it’s not surprising to see the organization begin moving veterans. It remains to be seen, though, how willing the Blue Jays will be to consider moving more controllable assets.

For their trouble, the Blue Jays will not only save some cash but will also pick up a potentially useful prospect asset. Espinal, a tenth-round pick in the 2016 draft, is hitting well this year at the High-A level. The 23-year-old carries a .314/.364/.478 slash with seven home runs and nine steals over 280 plate appearances. He has lined up primarily at shortstop but has also seen time at second and third base as a professional.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

As for the Blue Jays, they’re at least likely to get Marcus Stroman and Steve Pearce back in the near future, as both are currently embarking on rehab assignments in the minor leagues.

Let’s take a look at some other injury situations around baseball…

• Nate Rowan, beat reporter for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate, tweets that Trevor May is headed to the DL with shoulder inflammation. The move is retroactive to June 14th. May’s only recently made his way back from Tommy John surgery, a recovery he wrote about for MLBTR; he was optioned to Triple-A immediately following his activation. There’s no word yet on the severity of the shoulder situation or how long May is expected to be out. In his most recent major league action, May pitched to a 5.27 ERA across 44 relief appearances for the Twins.
• Another AL Central reliever received unfortunate news today as well. Nick Goody of the Indians visited Dr. James Andrews after feeling soreness during his throwing program. The diagnosis remains elbow hyperextension and posterior elbow inflammation, and though that’s far from the worst-case scenario, he’ll be shut down for at least three weeks after receiving a PRP injection. It’s bad news for an Indians club that has seen its bullpen go from the upper echelon in the league in 2017 to a bottom-dweller in 2018.
• Braves reliever Josh Ravin (currently pitching for Triple-A Gwinnett) experienced a scare yesterday when he was struck in the face by a line drive. Ravin’s stable, however (at least enough so to tweet), and is set to be further evaluated on Sunday in Atlanta when the swelling goes down. The current diagnosis is five facial fractures and a concussion. Ravin has yet to allow a run in Gwinnett across 18 innings, during which time he’s struck out 30 batters and walked nine.

One of the active roster spots needed was opened by optioning righty reliever Danny Barnes. The other came free with the club placing utilityman Steve Pearce on the 10-day with a strained oblique.

Ngoepe, 28, was acquired from the over the winter. He has long been seen as a quality defender with a questionable bat, and he has not done much to dispel that perception with a dozen strikeouts in just 19 MLB plate appearances this year.

As for Santos, he re-joined the organization on a minors deal over the winter. The 27-year-old turned in solid results in his first taste of the majors last year and has gotten results thus far in 2018 at Triple-A. Santos has thrown 9 1/3 innings over five relief appearances this year at Buffalo, allowing just two earned runs on six hits — but with a less-than-promising 8:6 K/BB ratio.

The bad news here for the Jays is that they’ll have to go without Pearce for a stretch — the anticipated duration of which is not yet known. Propensity for injury has long been the knock on the 35-year-old, who has slashed a robust .270/.333/.492 through 69 plate appearances on the season to date.