The Toronto Blue Jays made a trade with the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday. They acquired righthanded relief pitcher Erik Swanson of Fargo, North Dakota and left-handed pitching prospect Adam Macko of Bratislava, Slovakia (who attended Vauxhall Academy in southern Alberta) from the Mariners for outfielder Teoscar Hernandez of Cotui, Dominican Republic.
Swanson pitched 57 games for the Mariners in 2022, and had a breakout season. He had a record of three wins and two losses, with three saves and an earned run average of 1.68. In 53 2/3 innings pitched, Swanson gave up 39 hits, 10 earned runs, 10 walks, and one wild pitch, to go along with 70 strikeouts, and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 0.91. With the Blue Jays in 2023, he is expected to be in a setup role for closer Jordan Romano of Markham, Ontario.
Hernandez batted .267 with 25 home runs and 77 runs batted in. During 535 plate appearances and 499 at bats, he scored 71 runs, and had 35 doubles, one triple, six stolen bases, 34 walks, 245 total bases, an on base percentage of .316, and a slugging percentage of .491.
In making the trade, the Blue Jays tried to improve their bullpen, which was a complete disaster for the ball club in the postseason against the Mariners. While Hernandez was excellent offensively, he has struggled at times defensively as he has 26 errors in his career.
The Blue Jays will be Swanson’s second Major League team as he spent four seasons in Seattle. Hernandez is joining his third Major League Baseball team after two seasons with the Astros and six seasons with the Blue Jays. He was an All-Star in Toronto in 2021. That year he batted .296 with 32 home runs and 116 runs batted in.
