Just minutes prior to the arrival of the Major League Baseball trade deadline, various reports, specifically from the New York Post and CBS Sports, indicate that the Kansas City Royals have traded veteran infielder Whit Merrifield to the Toronto Blue Jays.
The trade, as of 5 o’clock Tuesday afternoon, had not yet been confirmed by either Kansas City or Toronto. In July, Merrifield was among 10 Royals players who were unable to play in a trip to Toronto for a four-game series at Rogers Centre, with Merrifield, at the time, indicating that while unvaccinated and thus unable to enter Canada, he “would” consider taking the COVID-19 vaccination for a team in the postseason chase, which the Blue Jays very much are.
Merrifield has been a base hit and stolen base machine for the Royals since 2017, although an extremely slow start to the 2022 season leaving the 33-year old hitting only .240 with six home runs and 15 stolen bases. His contract expires after the 2023 season. The first social media report indicating what Toronto is sending back to Kansas City came from Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, who tweeted that Triple-A infielder/outfielder Samad Taylor of the Buffalo Bisons and right-hander Max Castillo are KC bound. Taylor is hitting .258 with 9 homers and 45 RBI’s and 23 stolen bases. Castillo has spent most of the 2022 season at Buffalo, with nine appearances for the Blue Jays, including two starts, with a 3.05 ERA in 20 2/3 innings, with nine runs allowed and 20 strikeouts.
Photo credit – Keith Allison / Flickr / Baltimore, MD
