Why I Shouldn't Be Surprised Yanks Landed Pineda

It’s always easy to accept things that you want to be true, even when they probably aren’t. So when this Blue Jay fan observed the Yankees and Red Sox passing on every impact free agent to date this offseason, I was pleasantly surprised. Sure the Red Sox shored up their bullpen, but all and all it had been a quiet winter. Maybe Toronto could sneak into the playoffs with 90 wins if everything breaks right? But wanting something to be true doesn’t make it so and I should have known better.


Friday night, the Yankees acquired soon to be 23 year old starting pitcher Michael Pineda. Pineda had the third highest strikeout percentage in baseball and an ERA of 3.74 (3.53 xFIP) last year. I will tell myself everything I always do when a trade like this happens: apparently his changeup isn’t that good, he only has one year of experience, and moving from Safeco to Yankee Stadium will mean he gives up more home runs. All this really is though is a Blue Jays fan avoiding the fact that the Yankees, as usual got better on Friday. A lot better.


The AL East is the AL East and it is never going to change. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible for the three teams in the division not battling with the luxury tax to make playoffs, it just means there are no shortcuts. Shortcuts like signing Prince Fielder, Yu Darvish or going after a proven closer. Moves that would help any team no doubt, but not address the fact that the Blue Jays need to develop a system full of quality, high ceiling players and prospects (like Michael Pineda) to be able to run with the big dogs in the East. Things are moving in the right direction, and we should get there soon, but the team still has more than a couple holes to fill. The rotation, second base, left field, DH and first base could all be problem areas for the team this year. Friday’s trade between New York and Seattle was just another reminder that Toronto isn’t in the AL or NL Central. The Jays will need to be one of the best teams in baseball to even have a shot at making the playoffs. Even if I should have known that all along.