Are the Blue Jays Better w/ Troy Tulowitzki?

As we all either saw very late Monday night and early Tuesday morning the Toronto Blue Jays and the Colorado Rockies shook up the trading market with a deal involving Jose Reyes, Troy Tulowitzki, various prospects and an absolute butt-ton of money. The Blue Jays will acquire Tulowitzki and closer LaTroy Hawkins in a deal that sent Reyes and three prospects back to Colorado. No money will change hands despite Colorado saving around $50 million overall in the deal but did the deal really make Toronto all that much better and should the Yankees be worried?

Tulowitzki was slashing .300/.348/.471/.818 at the time of the trade with 12 home runs and 53 RBI in a very hitting friendly Coors Field while Reyes was slashing .285/.322/.385/.708 with four home runs and 34 RBI. It is hard to compare the two since Reyes is primarily a leadoff type hitter while Tulowtizki is a middle of the order type bat but Tulo seemingly has Reyes beat in almost every standard category and statistic as well as in the peripheral department. The question is not whether Tulo is the better hitter than Reyes, anyone who has watched a game the past two or three seasons can tell you that he is, but it is whether this is a better match for the Jays.

Toronto now has Tulo as long as Tulo wants to play his home games inside Rogers Centre after a full no-trade clause triggered in his deal with the trade. Toronto is taking on more years and more money, around $50 million to be exact, to take on Hawkins and Tulo and Tulo alone doesn’t really help the team. Toronto’s biggest issue this season has been with the pitching, it’s definitely not been the offense, and while Tulo helps the offense and probably helps on the defensive side of the ball, although with his recent hip surgery and injury history playing on turf may not be the best idea for Tulo, I’m not entirely sure he helps the team much this season.

Hawkins was also acquired in the deal and although he’s 42 years old and likely to retire at the end of the season making him a pure rental he may help a Toronto bullpen that is in dire need of some help. Hawkins was no longer the closer in Colorado, although he has loads of closing experience, and was pitching to a 3.63 ERA in a very hitting friendly ballpark at the time of the trade. Hawkins was pitching to a 123 ERA+ and 1.164 WHIP, although his 1.2 HR/9 and 8.9 H/9 aren’t anything to write home about. Hawkins still misses enough bats to survive and doesn’t walk many batters at all giving the Blue Jays an upgrade in their bullpen. Is it enough of an upgrade to make up 6.5 games in the American League East? Probably not even close, but then again its only July 29^th…