The Toronto Blue Jays struck gold with the last trade they made with the Oakland Athletics last offseason, now they've gone back to their old trade partner once against. The Blue Jays have traded right-handed reliever Liam Hendriks to the A's for pitcher Jesse Chavez.
It's a reasonable move for both teams, addressing major-league pitching issues quickly at the start of the offseason. After Marco Estrada thrived in his conversion from a long reliever to a consistent starter, the Blue Jays will now look for Chavez to step into that role as the long reliever.
Chavez posted a 4.18 ERA with a 1.35 WHIP between 26 starts and four relief appearances. He spent the 2012 season in Toronto, registering an 8.44 ERA in nine appearances before joining the Athletics via trade. His past two seasons with Oakland have shown he can be a starter, though his 3.38 ERA at home versus 4.92 ERA on the road is concerning given the move from O.co Coliseum to the Rogers Centre.
For Oakland, Hendriks provided a possible upgrade for its bullpen. The 26-year-old righty registered a 2.92 ERA and 1.08 WHIP over 64 2/3 relief innings for the Blue Jays in 2015. It was by far the best season of his career, with his career ERA still sitting at 5.15 after the turnaround season. He is cheap and under team control until 2019, which fits everything Oakland is looking for.
In the end, both teams walk away happy filling in holes they had entering the offseason and it didn't cost them much to do it. From a fantasy perspective, Chavez should probably now be further off the fantasy radar.