The Toronto Blue Jays acquired infielder Cliff Pennington for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday. Robert Murray of Baseball Essential first reported the possibility of the trade.
The 31-year old infielder can play second, third, and short, and will provide depth along with Munenori Kawasaki and Ryan Goins, who have been manning second in place of the injured Devon Travis. Arizona was looking to move Pennington to give more playing time to some of its younger players. Pennington is also set to hit free agency after this season.
The acquisition of Pennington, who owns a .237/.314/.281 triple-slash line for the season and a .248/.315/.346 line for his career, could also see Kawasaki sent back down to AAA. The 34-year old plays average defense and provides little at the plate. For the season, he owns a paltry .167 batting average. In that regard, Pennington is certainly an upgrade as a platoon mate for Goins.
Pennington should, at least for now, serve as the backup for Goins. However, neither really has an advantage over the other with the lumber, and their fielding statistics at second base are likewise almost identical. However, Pennington is a slightly better hitter and is more of a threat to to steal when on base. While three steals on the season is not a great amount, it indicates more potential for production that Goins’ total of zero. That being said, it is possible that Pennington becomes the starter and Goins moves into the backup role. And since Goins is the better fielder (his 1.2 dWAR at second towers over Pennington’s 0.7 dWAR), it would make sense for Toronto to utilize Goins as a defensive replacement late in games.
It is also possible that the Jays plan to use the two in more of a strict platoon kind of setup. Pennington is a switch hitter while Goins bats left. The starter may be decided by which side the opposing pitcher throws from on a given day.
While improved depth is never a bad thing, this is not the kind of move that will put Toronto over the top as it attempts to surpass the division-leading Yankees in the East. The Jays sit 3.5 games out of first place, and are currently in the midst of a series with New York. The Blue Jays took the series opener 2-1 in extra innings, and a sweep would do wonders for their cause. However, its is likely that they still need to make another move, and a more significant one at that, if they are serious about making a late-season push.
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