Farewell, Myles
(This story has been updated with additional information).
The Guardians have traded Myles Straw, $3.75 million over three years, and international free agency pool money to the Blue Jays for a player-to-be-named-later.
The Blue Jays have acquired outfielder Myles Straw, cash and international bonus signing pool space for the 2025 period from the Guardians for a PTBNL or cash.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) January 17, 2025
Source: The Guardians will send the Blue Jays $1 million this year, $1 million next year, $1.75 million at the end of next year (the same value as Straw’s buyout), plus $2 million in international pool space. https://t.co/4gTPaEUHis
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) January 17, 2025
The fact that it’s being reported it’s a PTBNL OR cash makes me think the primary goal was getting out from underneath Straw’s deal, hopefully enabling the Guardians to reinvest some more money in their roster. Apparently, the PTBNL cannot be made dependent on if Roki Sasaki signs with the Blue Jays or not.
I’m not surprised a team would be interested in Straw given the dearth of centerfield options in the bigs. I think there is probably still a role for him as a bench player somewhere but not sure Toronto is the right fit. I hope it is for his sake. I won’t miss his batting but it was kinda nice knowing his glove was around if needed. Not at that price, though: The Guardians freeing up $11.8 million or so makes this deal a slam dunk.
I am interested to see if the Guardians are going to make one more signing before Spring Training. Today’s move makes me think that’s more of a possibility than I thought yesterday. But, we will see.