MLB Roundup 1/8: The Blue Jays trade for Yangervis Solarte

The Blue Jays trade for Yangervis Solarte

The offseason is still dead silent, though we did get a bit of news over the weekend, and it involved a team in the American League East. Toronto swung a trade that sent two prospects (led by outfielder Edward Olivares) for infielder Yangervis Solarte. The Padres infielder is a nice little depth piece, as he’s played everyday for San Diego over the last few years and handled the role pretty well. He’s certainly not a superstar, but he’s a solid player who can fill in all around the infield. His primary position has been third base, though, which has led some to speculate that Toronto could be gearing up to trade Josh Donaldson. While that still wouldn’t totally surprise me given the star’s upcoming free agency, the Blue Jays have enough health questions on the rest of their infield that Solarte could make plenty of sense simply serving as depth. The Red Sox will likely have to put up with Donaldson for at least a few more months, if not longer. Solarte may sound like a familiar name for some of you as he was an interesting speculative target when Pedroia first underwent knee surgery. Of course, Boston has seemingly committed to sticking with their internal options to handle second base in the veteran’s absence.

• That’s not the only move the Padres have made in recent days. In addition to trading off Solarte, San Diego also made some moves to shore up their bullpen. First, they brought back Craig Stammen who had a quietly solid year in middle relief in 2017. Then, they signed Japanese closer Kazuhisa Makita. He won’t close in the States, but he does have a sweet submarine delivery. This offseason is fun!