Blue Jays deal former all-star infielder Santiago Espinal to Reds

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DUNEDIN — With a glut of infielders and a necessity for pitching depth, the Blue Jays have dealt former all-star Santiago Espinal to the Cincinnati Reds.

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Espinal, who in some ways has been the forgotten man at Toronto’s spring coaching over the previous a number of weeks, was dealt for 23-year-old pitching prospect Chris McElvain on Wednesday night time.

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The eighth-round choose by the Reds within the 2022 draft, McElvain doesn’t undertaking as a direct assist to the Jays’ big-league workforce. The precise-handed starter break up the 2023 season between the Reds’ single-A affiliate in Daytona, Fla. and the high-A workforce in Dayton, Ohio.

Espinal appeared in 93 video games for the Jays final season, a yr after he was an American League all-star. The precise-handed hitting infielder was acquired by the Jays in a commerce with Boston on the 2018 deadline for Steve Pearce, who went on to be voted World Sequence MVP that fall.

Espinal made his big-league debut with the Jays in 2020 and appeared in 347 video games with Toronto, recording 56 doubles, 11 homer runs and driving in 99 runs.

The transfer is not any shock contemplating Espinal’s obvious slide on the Jays’ depth chart together with the emergence of Ernie Clement, a flexible infielder with upside on the plate. It actually grew to become obvious by means of Grapefruit League play that there wouldn’t be a roster spot out there for the personable Espinal, so a minimum of the Jays landed one thing for him.

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