Sunday saw two more high-end starting pitchers find new homes, and unfortunately neither of them are in Toronto with the Blue Jays.
First, the Cleveland Indians made a surprising trade with the Texas Rangers to send Corey Kluber to Arlington for a pretty light return. Cleveland will get Delino DeShields, and a minor league pitcher named Emmanuel Clase. A few hours later, the Arizona Diamondbacks surprisingly won the Madison Bumgarner bidding, as the veteran southpaw signed a five-year, 85 million dollar pact to stay in the National League.
I’m a little surprised that the Blue Jays couldn’t or wouldn’t beat the package for Kluber, but I also understand the reluctance to bring in a 33-year-old coming off of a mostly lost season, and one that has a max of two years of contract control remaining.