Kiner-Falefa, Kiermaier, Richards. The Blue Jays could have taken bigger swings at the trade deadline. But they did make progress

Six of the trades involved players with expiring contracts, while Kiner-Falefa and reliever Nate Pearson were the only ones still under club control through at least 2025 who got moved. The goal was to inject young talent into a farm system that had become one of the league’s worst and retool for next season.

“Obviously did not want to be at this point where we’re trading players away,” Jays general manager Ross Atkins said. “It’s a disappointing time in my career and where we are as an organization, but we switched to getting better and switched to focusing on reshaping the group that is here, an already talented group that we want to build around.”

The most notable deal involved Kiner-Falefa, who was traded with cash to the Pittsburgh Pirates. In return, the Jays acquired power-hitting third baseman/outfielder Charles McAdoo, who was batting .315 with 14 homers and .932 on-base plus slugging percentage across two levels of the minors.

McAdoo was ranked  12th by Baseball America among prospects in a strong Pirates system. If he has success in the future, it will be in large part because of his ability to hit home runs, which is a skill that has been in short supply in the Jays’ minor-league system. Defensively, the 22-year-old has yet to find a home, but he could fit at third or a corner outfield spot.

Trading Kiner-Falefa comes with the added benefit of clearing an infield logjam. While the 29-year-old exceeded expectations by hitting .292 with a .758 OPS, well above career norms, the Jays have a glut of players with similar skill sets including Ernie Clement, Leo Jimenez and Davis Schneider, not to mention fellow infield options Spencer Horwitz and Addison Barger.

“The biggest factor there was the aggressiveness of the (Pirates),” Atkins said. “We were not looking to move IKF; we did not bring up his name to others. There were several teams that approached us. I was surprised that we crossed the line because he has been incredible, will be incredible and could have been a potential piece for us moving forward.”

The other trades Atkins completed before Tuesday’s 6-2 loss to the Orioles in Baltimore were minor. In exchange for Richards, the Jays acquired utility infielder Jay Harry. The 22-year-old was drafted in the sixth round  last year and wasn’t ranked among the Minnesota Twins’ top prospects by any of the major outlets.

Harry was batting just .214 with a .655 OPS in 82 games at Class-A Cedar Rapids. He doesn’t strike out a lot, but if he makes it to the majors it will be because of his plus glove, not any upside with the bat. 

Kiermaier was sent, with cash, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for lefty Ryan Yarbrough. Jays fans should remember Yarbrough, who spent five seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays. The 32-year-old has a 3.74 ERA across 67 1/3 innings, but he’s also a pending free agent. His role will be eating some of the innings left behind by Kikuchi and Richards.

“It’s unfortunate the year played out like it has; I don’t think we expected it to be like this,” said Richards, who had been mentioned frequently in trade rumours over the last several weeks. “That’s the game, it happens. It’s not easy, and you have to take advantage of the opportunities when they come.”

Before the flurry of trades, the Jays had what was generally considered a bottom-five farm system. The latest moves won’t be nearly enough to move inside the top half, but they have a shot at moving outside the bottom 10 depending on how the latest recruits and this year’s draft class fare the rest of the season.

An argument could be made that the Jays didn’t go far enough. They had an opportunity to take advantage of a seller’s market by auctioning off pitchers Chad Green and Chris Bassitt to the highest bidder. But Atkins chose not to, citing the club’s desire to contend again in 2025. 

That might prove to be a costly mistake because of how much work the Jays will have to do this off-season to get back into contention. But we’ll save those complaints for another day, because the trades that did get done look pretty good.

For that, a front office that has been heavily criticized of late deserves credit. Exactly how much won’t be known for quite some time, but at least the future looks a bit brighter. The current season, however, is another story entirely.