Tapia trade diversifies Jays' outfield portfolio

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DUNEDIN, Fla. — The Toronto Blue Jays’ outfield portfolio just became a little bit more diverse.

With right-handed production in spades in George Springer, Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., it was no secret GM Ross Atkins was searching for a lefty bat to complement that group.

He found it in Raimel Tapia on Thursday.

To get the speedy, 28-year-old outfielder from the Colorado Rockies, the Jays sent veteran right-handed hitting outfielder Randal Grichuk the other way, while also covering approximately half of his remaining salary over the next two seasons, according to a source. 

The cash considerations helped the Jays nab prospect Adrian Pinto, a 19-year-old middle infielder who has also dabbled in centre field and will spend 2022 in A-ball.

This trade was all about the different profile Tapia brings in speed, baserunning and defence, mostly in left field.

“There’s a lot of tools, a lot to like about how he complements us,” Atkins said Thursday evening at the club’s player development complex in Dunedin. “The contact ability, the defensive ability, the run tool, obviously being left-handed, we’ve talked about that a lot, love the teammate, so we’re excited to acquire him.”

“It’s just a better complementary piece. Randal Grichuk’s a great baseball player, but his skillset was similar to our other outfielders, so this is a more complementary piece for us.”

It’s a much better fourth outfielder profile, and there could be some remaining upside if you squint.

A career .280/.325/.395 hitter with 19 homers in 1,425 plate appearances, it’s obvious Tapia doesn’t have much power, but last year he stole 20 bases and struck out just 13.1 per cent of the time.

On days he’s in the lineup, he’ll add a bit of