Toronto Blue Jays win big in completed trade with the Cincinnati Reds
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Victor William
Dec 30, 2025 (1:53 PM)
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Photo credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
The Toronto Blue Jays almost lost Ernie Clement back in 2024 but their final decision has ended up paying off in a major way.
Clement has been a massive part of the team for the past two seasons even if here has been some rumors lately of the Blue Jays looking to bring in a new third baseman for next season.
Blue Jays still benefitting from keeping Ernie Clement instead of Santiago Espinal
Back in 2024, the Blue Jays had a big decision to make when it came to deciding on if they wanted to keep Clement or Santiago Espinal and they seems to have made the right decision as they needed to move on from at least one player.
The Blue Jays decided to keep Clement and trade Espinal to the Cincinnati Red in exchange for Chris McElvain.
"Before the beginning of the 2024 season, the Blue Jays had to make a choice: Lose Espinal or lose Clement, as both infielders were both out of options. The Blue Jays chose the younger Clement and it paid off drastically for them." -Ryan Delaney
The Blue Jays ended up winning the trade not because of the return they got from the Reds but because of the fact that they ended up keeping Clement who turned into a massive piece of their organization.
McElvain is still part of the Blue Jays organization and had a solid season in High-A in 2025 with a 4.42 ERA in 79.1 innings pitched.
"Well, the Jays traded him to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for prospect Chris McElvain, who had an okay stint with the High-A Vancouver Canadians in 2025." -Delaney
Espinal on the other hand ended up playing in 114 games last season for the Reds but mostly as a bench player as he only finished with 301 at bats and 0 home runs with 16 RBIs.
Clearly Toronto made an incredible decision since Clement was a big reason the Blue Jays made it to the World Series this year.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 30|274 ANSWERS Toronto Blue Jays win big in completed trade with the Cincinnati Reds Did the Blue Jays make the right decision with trade with the Reds? | ||
| Yes | 234 | 85.4 % |
| No | 40 | 14.6 % |
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