Talk about the bombshell that never happened…the Toronto Blue Jays were actually in the market to get Victor Martinez at the trade deadline earlier this year?
This was mentioned in passing in a recent article by Rob Bradford from WEEI. If it weren’t for the heads-up from the guys at MLB Trade Rumors, I probably would never have even noticed it. It said that the Blue Jays were planning on keeping Roy Halladay while trading to get Victor Martinez from the Cleveland Indians in hopes they could put together a contender in 2010.
Obviously any preliminary trade talks between the Blue Jays and the Indians must have fallen through the cracks because we’re just hearing about these developments now, but it makes one wonder…what would the Blue Jays have had to give up to land Victor Martinez in the first place?
The Red Sox picked him up by sending Justin Masterson along with a couple of Single-A prospects in Bryan Price and Nick Hagadone. Masterson was the key to the deal with over 200 innings experience in the majors. The equivalent of this trade for the Blue Jays would probably include a highly-touted prospect from the minor-league system that has big league experience like Brett Cecil or Marc Rzepczynski.
The addition of Victor Martinez would create a log jam at the catching position, so the Jays would have either had to deal Rod Barajas (whose contract expires at then end of the season) or move Martinez over to first base. If the Blue Jays decided to do the latter, then they would have to find a buyer for Lyle Overbay.
Now you can see why the trade talks were dead in the water before things progressed to the next level. For the Blue Jays to acquire Victor Martinez, it would have required the right pieces to fall in the right place at the right time. Unfortunately, not even one of those variables worked in the favour of the Blue Jays at the trade deadline.
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