Mehar wrote:Randle McMurphy wrote:Mehar wrote:Gurriel has struggled mightily for the past two weeks or so after coming back from his groin injury. He was hitting very well before the injury. Moreno is still one of the best catchers in the NL in throwing out runners, in his first year as a Catcher. His bat has slipped a bit, after hitting around .300 for two months. However, Varsho has sucked all year with the bat. When it seems he has a few good games, he then resorts to what he has always been the last 4 years. High Strikeout and no plate discipline. Trade was bad, not allegedly bad if Varsho hits in the .210 to.220 range all year.
Moreno’s bat has not just slipped a bit, he’s having a terrible offensive season (84 wRC+). He has virtually no power it seems, which was always the worry with him.
And Lourdes is doing what he has always done, streaking for a while and then cooling off, to ultimately end up as the mediocre player he is. Belt has had the better offensive season of the two so far, which again isn’t a surprise.
I had no problem trading Gurriel and Moreno. However, to trade your top prospect and above average hitter like Gurriel, I wanted more than a better version of Bradley Zimmer. I seen what Varsho has offered for 4 years. Moreno was still hitting over .300 for two months in his rookie year. Rather take that and his lack of power, then the high Strikeout and terrible plate discipline of Varsho. Gurriel had a rough two weeks coming back from his injury. You still do not trade those two players for a better version of Bradley Zimmer, who gives you little at the plate. A shorter version of an improved Bradley Zimmer with a height of 5 foot 9-10, and a bit more power. Love the man's defense, but his Batting Average, OBP, OPS all have declined since 2021 and have been below average this year. Varsho is the definition of a mediocre hitter.
Even if this is all Varsho ever is offensively (a league average bat with some pop), if Moreno never hits and never finds any power himself, the Jays may still win that trade anyway given that Varsho is likely to be an elite CFer defensively for the rest of his team control.
It should also be pointed out that the Jays also clearly have two better catchers on the roster than Moreno right now. From a win now perspective, there was again nothing wrong with it. Even not hitting as well as hoped, Varsho has still been the best player in the deal (not counting Lourdes’ unsustainable hot streak that quickly came to a massive halt to return him to what he actually is).
It remains unclear to me why anybody was or is in a hurry to judge it after two months. It will take years to determine who got more value out of this deal and there’s no clear favourite right now in that regard.