The Toronto Blue Jays are in the thick of the American League playoff race and added some reinforcements this week, acquiring outfielder Melvin Upton Jr from the San Diego Padres and reliever Joaquin Benoit from the Seattle Mariners.
After big trades for pitcher David Price and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki for a declining Jose Reyes and a collection of young prospects 12 months ago, the Jays surged and got to Game Six of the AL Championship Series, losing to the eventual champion Kansas City Royals.
New Blue Jays team president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins have few prospects to trade after Alex Anthopoulos emptied the coffers over the last few seasons and the club needs pitching to have a realistic chance to win a championship this season.
This is the same path that another Toronto team went down recently and their path should provide a warning for the Jays.
The Toronto Maple Leafs reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2002 and made a number of deals over the next two years in a frantic attempt to win a Stanley Cup.
The Leafs reached the third round and lost to the Carolina Hurricanes, in spite of losing team captain Mats Sundin in the opening game of their first round against New York, Darcy Tucker during the second-round series against Ottawa and other support players to injury.
Toronto got superlative performances out of veteran Gary Roberts, Alexander Mogilny, Curtis Joseph and Alyn McCauley (who took over from Sundin as the top-line center) and was fortunate to match up against relatively weak Islanders squad and the Senators, who they always had postseason success against.
GM and head coach Pat Quinn thought his club was a player or two away from a championship and decided to roll the dice, trading McCauley, Brad Boyes and a first round pick for winger Owen Nolan, a future second round pick for pending free agent Glen Wesley and low round picks for Doug Gilmour (who played one shift before tearing his ACL in Calgary) and Phil Housley (who played one regular season game and three playoff games).
Toronto lost in the first round to Philadelphia in seven games.
The next season, GM John Ferguson Jr. traded a future first-round pick for veteran defenseman Brian Leetch and a mid-round pick for 40 year old center Ron Francis.
After eliminating Ottawa in the first round, the Leafs again lost Philadelphia in six games, which cost Quinn his job.
The large number of draft picks and prospects swapped in deals over that two-year span directly contributed to Toronto's downward spiral and making the postseason just once in the last decade.
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With the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline approaching, the Blue Jays may be in a similar position to where the Leafs were 13 years ago, trying to improve a team that has too many holes.
The deal for Upton cost a 19-year-old single A pitcher who is not considered a top prospect and San Diego will pay the majority of his salary for the rest of this season and next, but the trade appears to be more insurance for next season, if Jose Bautista and Michael Saunders leave as free agents.
Benoit was swapped for the struggling Drew Storen, who was a dismal failure after being acquired for outfielder Ben Revere from Washington and was designated for assignment prior to the trade.
With Price gone, Marcus Stroman and RA Dickey pitching well below expectations, Marco Estrada just coming off the disabled list and the prospect of Aaron Sanchez being moved to the bullpen for innings limitations, it would likely cost Atkins what remaining prospects are left in the organization to upgrade the rotation and add an arm in the bullpen and that still may not be enough to win a playoff berth over Boston, Baltimore, Houston or Detroit or get past Cleveland or Texas to reach the series.
If they win it all, no one will complain if Toronto is under .500 for the next three or four years while they rebuild. But if they fall short as the Leafs did, Atkins could face the same scorn and ridicule from baseball fans that JFJ has enjoyed from Leafs Nation.
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