The Toronto Blue Jays have shipped catcher Danny Jansen to the Boston Red Sox, who have acquired his services.
Even though there are still three days left until the actual deadline day, the 2024 Major League Baseball trade deadline has already brought forth an incredible amount of chaos. On Saturday afternoon, the most significant piece of news of the year was revealed when the Miami Marlins traded their best utility player to the Bronx to join Aaron Judge and Juan Soto at the top of the Yankees lineup.
It was impossible for the Yankees’ most formidable adversaries, the Boston Red Sox, to allow New York to have all the fun. In a short amount of time, they were able to accomplish their own deal by purchasing catcher Danny Jansen from the Toronto Blue Jays. At the conclusion of the current season, Jansen is scheduled to become a free agent.
At the beginning of the year 2024, Jansen, who was 29 years old, got off to a strong start. It was the catcher who was slashing through the second of June.295/.375/.533 with five home runs and an OPS over .900. It looked as though he was having a true breakout season for the Blue Jays. But since that day, he’s batted .124 with 1 home run and 5 RBIs in 29 games. Boston is likely aiming to turn the catcher’s season back around as a depth piece after acquiring him.
Coffey, 20, is now slashing .238/.321/.463 with 14 home runs, 12 doubles and 8 stolen bases at High-A this season. The 2022 second round pick has been impressive this season, however he could require improvement at getting on base. The power exhibition from the 20-year-old has been rather amazing nevertheless. He’s also versatile across the infield on defense.
Paulino, 22, is slashing .263.349.391 in Double-A this season. The infielder has been excellent since making his pro ball debut in 2019, putting up a career OPS near .800. He has some fairly solid tools including speed that’s allowed him to steal over 20 bases in 2022 and 2023. He also gives defensive versatility across the infield.
Jansen is a tremendous boost over the Red Sox backup catcher Reese McGuire. Jansen is worth an incredible 11 blocks over average, per Baseball Savant.
The Blue Jays were guaranteed to move Jansen, since their front staff has been insistent that they would try to deal all their expiring contracts before attempting to compete in 2025. They earned a good-sized haul for their catcher, despite his awful period of a few months.