Most individuals have by no means been traded. Most individuals discover a job and go there till they discover a higher one (or till they transfer or they get fired or they’ll’t take it anymore or they die). I don’t have any buddies or family who confirmed up for work at some point solely to be instructed, “Oh, you don’t work right here anymore. We’ve determined you’re employed for the competitors.” It should be even weirder for Joey Loperfido, who bought traded from the Astros to the Blue Jays on the deadline in 2024 and is now getting traded again. Someplace out there may be an elephant who bought pregnant the day the Astros traded Loperfido to the Jays, and that elephant received’t give start till June.
The 26-year-old Loperfido is headed again to the Astros in a one-for-one lefty-hitting nook outfielder swap for Jesús Sánchez. Sánchez should be feeling like the topic of purchaser’s regret, too, because the Astros traded for him on the 2025 deadline, a mere 197 days in the past. Any people who bought pregnant the day of that commerce nonetheless have one other month or so earlier than they really need to assemble the crib. As starkly because it outlines the variations between the lifetime of a baseball participant and the lifetime of a human with an everyday job, the commerce makes its personal sense. We’re going to start out in Toronto, as a result of though it includes quite a lot of platoon finagling, the scenario there may be less complicated.
After coming painfully near a World Sequence championship, the Blue Jays are chasing that profitable feeling, signing Dylan Stop, Tyler Rogers, Cody Ponce, and Kazuma Okamoto. The 28-year-old Sánchez will price them one other $6.8 million in his second 12 months of arbitration (nicely, really greater than twice that due to the 110% luxurious tax hit). Loperfido is simply two years youthful than Sánchez, however he solely made his debut in 2024 and he has simply over one 12 months of service time and one minor league possibility left. The Astros could have him for 5 years, and he could begin the season within the minors. The Blue Jays are taking up {dollars} and giving up years within the hopes that Sánchez will assist them proper now.
Even after the Blue Jays discovered they’d be dropping Anthony Santander for 5 or 6 months as a consequence of shoulder surgical procedure, Loperfido appeared just like the odd man out of their outfield – a lot so, the truth is, that on the time of the damage, common supervisor Ross Atkins stated they weren’t searching for one other outfielder. I’m simply going to drag the entire paragraph from my damage roundup:
They’ve Daulton Varsho locking down heart discipline, Nathan Lukes and Davis Schneider platooning in left, and Addison Barger in proper, with Myles Straw as a defensive substitute and Joey Loperfido as a backup. With Santander out, George Springer is anticipated to get virtually all of his enjoying time at DH reasonably than the nook outfield. That’s not a foul spot to be in. Our Depth Charts have the Blue Jays ranked within the prime half of the league in any respect three outfield spots and at DH. Nonetheless, dropping a participant with 40-homer energy hurts, particularly when the crew may also be going with out Bo Bichette, who signed with the Mets final month.
It seems that the Blue Jays actually wished that energy. Sánchez will doubtless take Lukes’ half within the left discipline platoon, pushing Lukes into what would have been Loperfido’s bench position, and will additionally permit the Jays to squeeze an additional lefty into the lineup towards righties, shifting Barger to 3rd base whereas preserving Lukes, Varsho, and Sánchez within the outfield.
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You may assume we’re speaking marginal upgrades right here, and to some extent that’s true. ZiPS tasks Sánchez for a 104 wRC+ and Loperfido a 100, and his protection usually grades out a shade above common due to a powerful throwing arm. The projections really see Lukes as really higher than Sánchez, with a 107 wRC+ and higher protection. This isn’t simply concerning the margins; it’s about upside.
First, Sánchez has upside as a result of he positively has the facility the Jays are searching for. Regardless of a disastrous stretch after arriving in Houston on the deadline, he has one of many larger bat speeds within the league, and in earlier years, his exit velocity numbers have been almost as exceptional. The projections count on him to bounce again and be a bit above common on the plate, making him a surer factor than Loperfido, particularly if the Blue Jays deploy him accurately.
On this case, “deploy him accurately” means one factor: By no means let him face a left-handed pitcher. Sánchez is a left-handed hitter whose platoon splits are about as excessive as they get. He has a profession 111 wRC+ towards righties and a 41 wRC+ towards lefties. Since 2020, that’s the worst mark of any participant in baseball with not less than 300 plate appearances towards lefties. Absolutely the worst. Nevertheless, even in his ugly 2025 season, he put up a 104 wRC+ towards righties, his lowest since his very transient debut in 2020. The Blue Jays are betting that in the event that they put Sánchez in the proper spot, they’ll let him be his finest. And just like the Astros earlier than them, they’re seeing nice batted ball metrics and hoping that he can lastly put collectively the type of 30-homer season you may’t assist however think about whenever you watch him take batting apply.
As for Houston’s facet of the commerce, we should always most likely begin with the truth that it saved the crew a bunch of cash. Loperfido is affordable and has numerous membership management left. We all know that half for positive. It’s additionally well-known that Loperfido was beloved within the clubhouse and the group thought extremely of him. Whereas it’s not encouraging that he hasn’t but grabbed an on a regular basis spot as he enters his age-26 season, it’s nonetheless a chance sooner or later. He ran a wildly BABIP-inflated 148 wRC+ throughout his 41-game stint within the majors in 2025, however even should you ignore the batted ball luck, he nonetheless put up an xwOBA that was barely above the league common. Projections see him as a roughly league-average bat once more in 2026, and the Astros might merely stash him within the minors till they determine what they wish to do with him.
Nonetheless, it has been made abundantly clear – arguably even awkwardly clear – that Loperfido doesn’t remedy any issues in Houston. Actually, when common supervisor Dana Brown first mentioned the commerce with reporters, he stated level clean, “We’re not completed but.” He continued, “That is simply a kind of strikes that we’re locking into as we proceed to concentrate on left-handed bats and the way forward for this group.” The Astros have Jake Meyers in heart. That a lot is settled. Additionally settled is the truth that Jose Altuve’s adventures in left discipline are over. He’s going again to second base. As for the corners, please excuse the size of this subsequent paragraph, as a result of it’s a little bit of a multitude.
The Astros have Loperfido again. In addition they have one other lefty-hitting 26-year-old in Zach Cole, who posted a wonderful 151 wRC+ within the minors in 2025 after which hit 4 homers in simply 15 video games with the large membership. They’ve the right-handed Cam Smith, who came visiting with Isaac Paredes and Hayden Wesneski within the Kyle Tucker commerce. Smith bought off to a scorching begin in his main league debut and was talked up as a possible successor to Tucker (regardless of by no means enjoying a single inning within the outfield within the minors). Then he got here again to Earth and completed the season with a 90 wRC+. Actually, the explanation the Astros went out and bought Sánchez from the Marlins final 12 months was that they’d hoped he’d take the proper discipline job away from Smith. Smith continues to be simply 22, and the projections see him as only a hair beneath common on the plate, however the crew has already tried to surrender on him as soon as. Lastly, the Astros have Yordan Alvarez, whom they positively wish to transfer right into a everlasting DH position. Nevertheless, when he arrived at spring coaching, Alvarez made it fairly clear that he want to hold enjoying within the discipline. “I’ve by no means gotten harm enjoying left discipline,” he instructed reporters by means of an interpreter. “All my accidents have been from other ways (and) working. However I haven’t had any critical accidents really enjoying left discipline.” I instructed you it was a multitude.
Complicating issues additional is that the Astros nonetheless have Paredes, whom they’re determined to commerce. With Carlos Correa again within the fold, Altuve again at second, and Alvarez at DH, Paredes doesn’t have a transparent path to enjoying time. There’s a option to match all 4 of these gamers into the lineup – enjoying Alvarez in left generally, and giving Correa and Altuve the occasional off day whereas Paredes fills in at second or third – but it surely’s not what the crew desires. It’s definitely not the best way most groups would deal with a participant who has put up 10.1 WAR up to now three years, and it leaves the outfield corners within the fingers of some unproven younger gamers. In keeping with Chandler Rome of The Athletic, “Any deal involving Paredes is nearly assured to incorporate a participant who can present a right away affect to the 2026 Astros, ideally a left-handed hitting outfielder.”
One thing goes to occur right here. If Paredes does get traded, Loperfido, Smith, and even Cole might find yourself going with him. However, it’s not exhausting to image Loperfido beginning the season within the minors and Paredes getting traded for a left-handed outfielder who snags one nook spot and leaves the opposite for Smith and Cole to deal with in a platoon. For now, simply know that the season begins in about six weeks, and the Astros must determine one thing out ultimately.