Blue Jays: Revisiting the Drew Hutchison trade tree

One of the best trade trees in Toronto Blue Jays’ history is the Drew Hutchison trade ahead of the 2016 trade deadline.

On Aug. 1, 2016, the Blue Jays sent the struggling pitcher to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Francisco Liriano, as well as two prospects: Reese McGuire and Harold Ramírez. The latter departed the Blue Jays organization after the 2018 season and found a bit of success with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2022 and 2023.

McGuire never really turned into anything more than a defence-first backup catcher, as he was eventually traded for Zack Collins. Collins’ time with the Jays was short, as the catcher hit four home runs in 79 plate appearances in 2022. He was eventually claimed off waivers by the Pirates, ending that section of the trade tree.

Liriano pitched well to end his 2016 season, as the Jays flamed out in the American League Championship Series. That was the final time they made the playoffs until 2020, and the last time they won a round until they beat the New York Yankees in the ALDS in October. Before the 2017 trade deadline, the Jays sent Liriano to the Houston Astros in exchange for Nori Aoki and Teoscar Hernández.

The pitcher went on to win the World Series with the Astros that season, spending two more seasons in the big leagues. Liriano returned to the Jays organization before the 2021 season, but didn’t pitch that year.

Aoki played 12 games with the Jays, slashing .281/.294/.594 with three home runs in 34 plate appearances. Despite the strong performance, Aoki was designated for assignment, joined the Mets for 27 games, then was released. He finished out his career in Japan, retiring in 2024.

Of course, if the Jays didn’t acquire Hernández, this trade tree wouldn’t be remembered. When the rosters expanded to 40 players in September, Hernández joined the Jays and received playing time, slashing .261/.305/.602 with eight home runs in 523 plate appearances, a precursor for what was to come.

Hernández earned a full-time role with the Jays in 2018, slashing .239/.302/.468 with 22 home runs in 134 plate appearances for a 106 wRC+ and 0.9 fWAR. The outfielder had a rough start to his 2019 season, slashing just .189/.262/.299 with three home runs in 141 plate appearances from the start of the season until May 15. He was optioned, but finally broke out upon his return to the Blue Jays a month later.

From Jun. 5 until the end of the season, Hernández slashed .248/.325/.548 with 23 home runs in 323 plate appearances for a 126 wRC+. The outfielder’s K% of 34.4 remained high, but he finally emerged as a power hitter.

Hernández was the Jays’ best hitter during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, slashing .289/.340/.579 with 16 home runs in just 207 plate appearances for a 142 wRC+ and 1.5 fWAR. He followed that up with a career-year in 2021, slashing .296/.346/.524 with 32 home runs in 595 plate appearances for a 132 wRC+ and 4 fWAR. The 2021 season saw Hernández be named to his first All-Star Game, as well as win the Silver Slugger Award.

In Hernández’s final season as a Blue Jay, 2022, he slashed .267/.316/.491 with 25 home runs in 535 plate appearances for a 130 wRC+ and 3 fWAR. His final two home runs were in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series, as the Blue Jays blew a massive lead to the Seattle Mariners (they got their revenge three years later).

On Nov. 16, 2022, the Jays sent Hernández to the Mariners in exchange for prospect Adam Macko and Erik Swanson. This trade is an interesting one, to say the least. Swanson was coming off a season where he had a 1.68 ERA and 1.85 FIP in 53.2 innings pitched, striking out 34% of the batters he faced with a 4.9 BB%.

His 2023 season was solid as well, as he finished with a 2.97 ERA and 3.51 FIP in 66.2 innings pitched, with a 28.6 K% and 8 BB%. His 2024 was derailed due to injury, but he pitched well after returning to the Jays near the trade deadline, giving optimism for his 2025 season. However, he started the year off injured and had a 15.19 ERA in 5.1 innings pitched before being designated for assignment and released, retiring after the end of the season.

While Swanson’s time as a Blue Jay unfortunately didn’t pan out well, Hernández struggled with the Mariners. In 160 games with the American League West team, Hernández slashed .258/.305/.435 with 26 home runs in 678 plate appearances, His K% jumped to 31.1%, the highest it had been since 2019, while his wRC+ dropped to 107, the lowest since 2019.

Of course, Hernández has gone on to rebound with the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning back-to-back World Series. You can’t really fault the Blue Jays for this trade, there was a lot of unfortunate circumstances involved, but they probably should’ve signed him after the 2023 season.

The last remaining piece of this trade tree is Macko. The left-handed pitcher is on the Blue Jays 40-man roster and may make his big league debut as soon as next season. Last season with the Buffalo Bisons, the 25-year-old had a 5.06 ERA and 4.56 FIP in 64 innings pitched, but had a strong end to his season.

Time will tell where else this trade tree will go.