Blue Jays Trade Grichuk to Rockies for Tapia

Randal Grichuk has been traded to the Rockies for Raimel Tapia and minor-leaguer Adrian Pinto, Inside The Blue Jays has confirmed.

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The Blue Jays have traded Randal Grichuk to the Rockies in exchange for outfielder Raimel Tapia, Inside The Blue Jays has confirmed. 

Colorado is also sending minor-league infielder Adrian Pinto to Toronto in the deal, and the Rockies will receive some cash from the Blue Jays, per multiple reports.

Toronto and Colorado initially discussed a deal involving Tapia at the GM meetings in November, per an industry source. 

Tapia, who bats and throws left-handed, adds some diversity to a largely right-handed-hitting Blue Jays lineup. The 28-year-old has a career slash of .280/.325/.395 through parts of six years in the majors and is primarily known for his speed (20 SBs last year) and contact abilities. Tapia is owed $3.95 million in 2022 and becomes a free agent after the 2023 season.

The acquisition of Tapia opens up plenty of creative lineup constructions for the Blue Jays. Tapia will be an important platoon piece for Toronto against right-handed pitchers, and his speed makes him a dangerous late-inning tool as a pinch-runner. 

When reports of the deal broke, Grichuk could be seen hugging teammates goodbye and chatting on the phone. The 30-year-old’s tenure in Toronto ends after four full seasons with the Blue Jays, during which he hit 90 home runs and recorded a .751 OPS (100 OPS+).

Grichuk was acquired by the Blue Jays before the 2018 season, with hopes he'd be able to limit his contact issues, while maintaining his power, to become a more complete hitter. He signed a five-year, $52 million extension in 2018, and while he showed flashes at times, Grichuk never quite got over the hump as a hitter in Toronto.