The Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners have agreed to one of the first big blockbuster trades of the offseason.
Per ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Blue Jays are trading All-Star outfielder Teoscar Hernández to Seattle in exchange for reliever Erik Swanson and starting pitcher prospect Adam Macko. Hernández has one season remaining on his contract.
Macko has already been ranked as the No. 8 Blue Jays prospect at MLB Pipeline. The 21-year-old split the 2022 campaign with the Everett AquaSox of the Northwest League and the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League.
The Blue Jays acquired Hernández and Nori Aoki from the Houston Astros ahead of the 2017 trade deadline, with Francisco Liriano going the other way. Hernández emerged as a key power bat in the Toronto lineup, hitting 20-plus home runs in each of his four full seasons with the team. Hernández had 16 in the shortened 60-game 2020 season.
Hernández earned his first career All-Star nod in 2021, finishing the year with 32 home runs, 116 RBI, a .296 batting average and an OPS of .870. He helped the Blue Jays earn wild card berths in 2020 and 2022.
After three inconsistent seasons, Swanson finally came into his own for the Mariners in 2022. The hard-throwing righty posted a 1.68 ERA in 57 game appearances, racking up 70 strikeouts against only 10 walks.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral MLB stories via Google! Follow Us
Hernández fills a huge void in Seattle’s lineup, but now the Blue Jays have a gaping hole that must be fixed. For what it’s worth, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported that the Jays have interest in former New York Mets star and free agent Brandon Nimmo.
The Blue Jays and Mariners faced each other in the AL Wild Card Series, with Seattle pulling off the two-game sweep. This marked the Mariners’ first playoff appearance since 2001, though they were ultimately swept by the Houston Astros in the ALDS.
