The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired veteran right-hander Jason Grilli and cash considerations from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for minor league right-hander Sean Ratcliffe, as according to a report from Robert Murray of BaseballEssential.com on Tuesday evening.
As for now, the deal has not been approved, however, things are said to be relatively close, as David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes.
As mentioned by Mark Bowman of MLB.com, the 39-year-old has been seen in the outfield since, presumably to wrap up his things in the bullpen, however, did also take part in pre-game ball-shagging as batting practice was taking place at Turner Field.
Confirmation of the deal has been made as Mike Wilner of Sportsnet.ca reports that the trade is now complete, however, both clubs are yet to make a statement with regards to the move.
It is said that the Blue Jays will pay Grilli the minimum while the Braves will take on the remainder of his salary for the entirety of the 2016 regular season. As for his contract, he is owed $3.5MM for the season and has a club option for 2017 included which is valued at $3MM to go alongside a $250,000 buyout.
As per a report from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the Blue Jays will receive at least $1MM from Atlanta as the deal did acquire approval from the league. Taking a look at his salary now, Rosenthal also notes that Toronto will cover $600K including the buyout while Atlanta takes on the rest.
Grilli originally came up with the Florida Marlins back in 2000 after having been drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the first round (4th overall) of the 1997 amateur draft. He later signed in July of that season.
What was the idea behind this being done?
Grilli joins a struggling bullpen of which has not reliable to manager John Gibbons with guys such as Drew Storen having not done their jobs as anticipated. According to Sportsnet.ca, Toronto relievers currently rank 16th in baseball while owning a 3.89 ERA. This also goes alongside the fact of which the bullpen has allowed 41 percent of inherited runners to score which ranks 28th among the 30 MLB teams.
With a veteran in the mix, things could take a turn for the better as it will likely provide some balance to the order as well as much needed experience.
So far this season, Grilli has pitched with a 5.29 ERA in 21 total games played while having struck out 23 hitters in 17 innings pitched. This also includes two saves.
Taking a brief look at Ratcliffe, the 21-year-old right-hander was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 18th round of the 2013 MLB draft. Reflecting upon his previous season, the Canadian native pitched with an ERA of 3.60 to go alongside a record of 2-2 in a total of 22 games played. This includes the 40.0 innings of which he had the chance to pitch in.
The Blue Jays are back at it at 7:00 PM ET for game three against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre as LHP J.A. Happ will take to the bump against LHP C.C. Sabathia.