Paul DeJong spent 18 days with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The 2019 MLB All-Star was acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals during this month’s MLB Trade Deadline. He didn’t last three weeks with his new team, as he was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays on Saturday. All-Star shortstop Bo Bichette was reinstated from the injured list as the corresponding move.
ROSTER MOVES:
🔹 SS Bo Bichette reinstated from 10-day IL and will be active tonight
🔹 INF Paul DeJong designated for assignment pic.twitter.com/2ixGjbGyPS
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 19, 2023
A quick scan of DeJong’s baseball reference page tells you why the Blue Jays made this move, but that left some fans questioning why they made the move in the first place.
Why did you trade for him ?
— ERZEN KRIVCA (@ERZEN) August 19, 2023
I’ll be happy to be proven wrong, and I know the bat was virtually absent, but this does not scream ‘superior asset management’ of a premium defender to me… https://t.co/4prxEkzHEZ
— Ian Harrison (@iananywhere) August 19, 2023
As for others, this move didn’t exactly come out of left field. DeJong had just three hits in 44 plate appearances. And while they gave up prospect Matt Svanson in this deal, it’s clear that the Blue Jays front office viewed the former All-Star infielder as a sunk cost.
I still am supportive of the process behind the Paul DeJong trade, not the FO’s fault that he decided to go on the worst stretch of his career the exact moment we traded for him.
Good decision to rid of him now, unfortunately. https://t.co/V3ydjI1k1O
— EJNave (@twitchejnave) August 19, 2023
In 44 ABs with the Blue Jays, DeJong hit .068, collecting just three hits and striking out 18 times.
Woof. https://t.co/d03OWqfvug
— Trevor Knapp (@KnappBets) August 19, 2023
DeJong was obviously a depth piece but 44 at bats in 13 games and done. https://t.co/8YVSlnMI4s
— Gregg Palermo (@GreggPalermo) August 19, 2023
When you’re getting DFA’d due to your bat on a team that can’t score runs to begin with … you know it’s been really, really bad https://t.co/lrowgg0KsQ
— Dustin Saracini (@DustinSaracini) August 19, 2023
In 44 plate appearances (13) games, DeJong is slashing .068/.068/.068 with just three hits. He owns a .136 OPS and has a negative OPS+. Those numbers are impossibly bad. And it’s not like the Blue Jays are lighting the world on fire offensively, they need all the help they can get, but clearly, DeJong was only furthering the issue.
In 81 games with St. Louis, DeJong owned a .233/.297.412 slash line in 81 games, in which he produced 13 home runs, 33 RBIs and an OPS of .710.
It’s quite reasonable to see why Blue Jays fans across the world of Major League Baseball reacted as they did. Trade deadline moves are supposed to help with a postseason push, not hinder them. Now, DeJong will be searching for a second new home in less than three weeks.
