The Blue Jays return to the scene of the crime of 2014 trade deadline

By: Ian Hunter

Canadian Baseball Network

Nearly two years ago to this very day, the Toronto Blue Jays entered a four-game set on the road against the Houston Astros. The Blue Jays saw the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline come and go as the front office stood pat and nary made a trade.

The Blue Jays soon thereafter fell out of the playoff race, losing their Wild Card spot and never regained it for the remainder of the season.

It’s eerie that two years later, the Blue Jays have returned to the scene of the crime in Houston once again. To this date, the 2016 Blue Jays have already been much more active on the trade front than their 2014 predecessors, but very little could happen in the way of transactions for the Blue Jays today.

Both this year and in 2014, the Blue Jays held down a Wild Card spot. But as we’ve seen all too often, those Wild Card spots can be fleeting.

However, the circumstances surrounding that 2014 Blue Jays squad and this one are much different. The 2014 Blue Jays were a team with many holes on the roster; they were decimated by injuries and one could argue there weren’t enough moves to make at the 2014 trade deadline to transform the Blue Jays into a contending team.

The Blue Jays’ starting third baseman in Edwin Encarnacion was injured, Brett Lawrie was injured, Colby Rasmus was on the verge of being benched for “bad behaviour”, and Nolan Reimold was the team’s designated hitter.

Alex Anthopoulos stood pat at the trade deadline that year while the team was in Houston, and the players didn’t receive the news very well. There was some dissension from the players, as veterans like Jose Bautista outright voiced their disappointment in the team’s inactivity at the trade deadline.

Jose Bautista told Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star: “Of course it’s a little disappointing that we somehow weren’t able to get anything done, but everybody around us that’s in contention . . . somehow figured it out.”

Casey Janssen echoed a similar sentiment in that piece, saying “For me in my eight years here, I’ve never been this close, never had such an opportunity to make it into the playoffs … It’s finally our time, it’s finally beating down the door and we wanted to come on the scene as strong as we can.”

As mentioned, the Blue Jays dropped out of the playoff picture less than a week later. They lost three of those four games in Houston, and by the time they returned home to Toronto, the Blue Jays found themselves on the outside looking in.

While it’s not the player’s job to play GM and dictate whether the team makes moves or not, it must have been disheartening for the 2014 Blue Jays to see every other team within the division make moves, as the Blue Jays stood pat at the deadline.

However, the Blue Jays’ inactivity and reluctance to take on money or deal away prospects fell in line with the club’s philosophy that year. They practically had to scrounge to sign Dioner Navarro to a modest two-year $8 million dollar contract. And of course, the rumoured “pass the hat around” campaign to drum up enough money to sign Ervin Santana. Even if the Blue Jays were in contention that year, they were clearly cash-strapped.

Although the Blue Jays occupied a playoff spot at the 2014 trade deadline, the front office may have sent a message that they didn’t have faith in that roster. By failing to provide reinforcements for that team, it had to be disappointing for those 25 guys within the clubhouse.

However, this time around in Houston is a much different scenario. The Blue Jays find themselves just a half game back of the division lead, and they hold a one game lead in the Wild Card. But at 13 games above .500 this year, the Blue Jays of 2016 are a much more fundamentally sound ball club.

That’s not to say there couldn’t be some improvements at the trade deadline. It will remain to be seen whether Ross Atkins and company can acquire that coveted starting pitcher the Blue Jays have been after. But it’s not quite the necessity as it was back in 2014.

The 2016 Blue Jays have experienced their fair share of struggles this year, and even without a blockbuster trade ahead of the non-waiver trade deadline, they’ll probably be okay.

Even if the 2014 Blue Jays went out and swung a few deals at the trade deadline (as the players hoped), I don’t think it would’ve made much of a difference.

Follow Ian’s work on the Blue Jays at Blue Jay Hunter and follow him on Twitter, @BlueJayHunter.