Jays Come Back Against KC After Trade

Kelly Johnson

After a trade that sent long time Jay's Aaron Hill and John McDonald to Arizona for second baseman Kelly Johnson, GM Alex Anthopoulos explained "I have not ruled out either player being back here in 2012". Both now ex-Jay's were fan favourites and extremely well-liked around the dugout. Also, they have become comfortable and accustomed to life here in Toronto. Despite this, both players likely knew this trade was coming because of their former GM's openness to talk to them. Hill went on to say "This is all I've known, this has been my family. Like Alex said, I'm very open to coming back next year. This isn't the end." McDonald added "I've had a lot of conversations with Alex recently about just that, about continuing to be a Toronto Blue Jay and that excites me too". With both players becoming free agents after this season and having their families situated in Toronto, there is a good chance that they could sign back with the Jays come the offseason.

With that said, GM Anthopoulos' pulled off a deal where he landed his long time target in Kelly Johnson. Though the 29 year-old Johnson has just one year left on his contract, he is a former first rounder that hasn't really lived up to his potential. Anthopoulos will likely use the rest of the season to truly assess what Johnson is capable of and consider working out a deal for him to serve as their long term second baseman. Despite a poor .209 average, Johnson has 18 homers, 49 RBI's and 13 stolen bases. Good move, as the trade gives two former Jays the chance to play some October baseball in Arizona and also gives their GM the opportunity to assess new talent for a possible long term second baseman next year. 

On another positive note, the Jays came from behind against the Royals with homers from Bautista and red-hot rookie Brett Lawrie. Romero failed to earn his 6th straight win but picked up the no decision as he pitched 6 strong innings with 3 earned runs. Even in a game where he didn't have his best stuff, he was able to keep the Jays competitive.