MLB trade grades: Blue Jays trade for Diamondbacks’ Daulton Varsho

Defensive stalwart Daulton Varsho is heading to Canada after the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks worked out a trade that feels like a match made in heaven.

Trades usually feel like there are winners and losers. Someone overpaid or someone got undercompensated. One side will live in regret. One side will gloat.

Then there are the trades like the one between the Blue Jays and Diamondbacks on Friday, with winners on all sides.

The Blue Jays got outfielder Daulton Varsho. The Diamondbacks got two players back for a player at a well-stocked position. Both sides got what they needed.

Daulton Varsho trade details

According to Jeff Passan, Toronto picked up Varsho by sending highly-touted prospect Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to Arizona.

Daulton Varsho trade grades

The trade could hardly have worked out better for either side. So what grades do they deserve?

Toronto Blue Jays trade grade: A

Toronto recently traded Teoscar Hernández, increasing their need for an outfielder. They just got a big one.

Varsho batted .235/.302/.443 last season with 27 home runs, 74 RBI and 16 stolen bases. His bat will fit in well in the Blue Jays lineup.

It’s his defense that sets him apart from the crowd though. Considered by many to be the top defensive outfielder in the league, he’s an instant upgrade in that department. His defensive WAR was 2.0 in 2021. Toronto’s best defensive WAR last season was 1.0, courtesy of Danny Jansen.

To get Varsho they had to give up a massive prospect in Gabriel Moreno, but it made too much sense not to do it. Alejandro Kirk just had an All-Star season and will keep the future plenty bright at catcher. As good as Moreno may become, he was going to have a tough time breaking past Kirk anyways.

Arizona Diamondbacks trade grade: A

As good as Varsho was for Arizona, their outfield is so loaded with young talent that his value as a trade asset was simply higher than the value of keeping him. Trading him away for a prospect like Moreno and a productive player like Gurriel is a long-term move with potentially huge payoff.

Arizona will be just fine with an outfield including Corbin Carroll, Jake McCarthy, Alek Thomas, Kyle Lewis and, now, Gurriel.

Meanwhile, they added a potentially elite catcher in Moreno to rack up even more potential for their lineup.

When it comes down to it, the Blue Jays want to win now and Varsho will help them do that. The Diamondbacks are looking to the future and Moreno will bolster that picture. Look up, win-win in the dictionary and you might see this trade as an example.