Randal Grichuk’s career has turned into one long reminder that a player can disappear from one team and immediately become somebody else’s problem.
The veteran outfielder once held down a regular spot in Toronto, playing 479 games across four seasons for the Blue Jays after they acquired him for Dominic Leone and Conner Greene. That move paid off during a rebuilding stretch, but the fit didn’t last forever.
Near the end of the five-year, $52 million deal he signed with the club, Toronto sent him to the Rockies for Raimel Tapia, and the journeyman stretch of his career took off from there. In the last five years, Grichuk has now played for six teams.
His latest stop came with the Yankees, who brought him in during spring training in February. That run barely got off the ground. New York moved on after less than a month and only 33 plate appearances, sending him back into the market.
The White Sox took the gamble, and Grichuk has responded by making the Yankees look foolish.
Through his first 71 games in Chicago, the 35-year-old is hitting .291/.321/.589 with a 149 wRC+ and 26 extra-base hits. That kind of production would get attention anywhere, but it stands out even more given how thin Toronto’s power output has been this season. Among Blue Jays hitters with at least 100 plate appearances, Kazuma Okamoto leads the club with a .432 slugging percentage.
Grichuk’s profile still comes with the same familiar warts. He barely walks, and his xwOBA is nearly 40 points lower than what he has actually produced. But the results have been real enough to matter, and they’ve helped push the White Sox into AL Central contention much earlier than expected.
And it’s all landing in a spot where the Yankees could use the punch. Aaron Judge and Ben Rice have played like stars when Judge has been healthy, but the rest of the lineup has been far less convincing. Paul Goldschmidt, at 38, has been their next-best slugger, and the offense has slipped below average in an American League that doesn’t exactly look imposing.
The Blue Jays don’t exactly get to laugh from a perfect perch here, since their offense has been worse than the Yankees’ in most categories this season. But Toronto isn’t the team that cut Grichuk loose for nothing in April, and Toronto isn’t the one trying to replace Judge’s long-term absence.
For now, Grichuk keeps getting the last word. And if that keeps giving Yankees fans another reason to question their front office, all the better.
In Other News...
Padres Have A New Late-Inning Weapon Drawing Serious All-MLB Buzz
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For a Blue Jays team that knows how quickly late-inning arms can change the feel of a series, the reliever debate is the most interesting part of the board. Miller and Varland are drawing serious buzz as the kind of weapons that can reshape October expectations, but these All-MLB predictions remain just that for now, a snapshot of where the season stands before anything is officially handed out. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Broadcast Crew Still Earned Respect During A Tough Transition
Awful Announcings latest local MLB broadcast rankings offered a small reminder that the Blue Jays television crew still carries real weight with viewers, even through change. In a vote based on more than 85,000 ballots, Torontos Dan Shulman, Joe Siddall and Hazel Mae finished eighth, sliding from fourth a year ago but still holding a spot among the sports more respected booths.
The drop was tied in part to Buck Martinezs retirement, a shift that naturally altered the familiar rhythm for Blue Jays fans. Even so, the result shows the audience has not drifted far from the crew, and it also places Toronto in a category that included the Padres Don Orsillo and Mark Grant at No. 1 for a second straight year, a useful benchmark for how strong the competition remains. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays May Have Found A Serious Bat Far Later Than Expected
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What makes Bennett especially interesting is how much room there still is for the Blue Jays to sort out the rest of the profile. His defensive home is not settled yet, with catcher, first base and designated hitter all in the mix, which leaves Toronto with a pretty straightforward question: how much of his value will come from the bat alone? For now, the organization can at least feel encouraged that a late-round pick is already forcing a closer look. [Read more 🡒]