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1—Taking stock of Jays’ summer trade haul

The purge started June 28 when Steve Pearce was shipped to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for A-ball shortstop Santiago Espinal.

That trade signaled that the Jays and general manager Ross Atkins were finally ready to start the teardown, and that’s exactly what happened over the ensuing two months.

In total, Atkins made eight trades, dealing away eight players and a significant amount of cash in order to acquire 13 pieces, including two immediate roster players and 11 prospects of varying pedigrees.

Here’s the final tally.

Out: OF Steve Pearce (Red Sox), RP Seunghwan Oh (Rockies), SP J.A. Happ (Yankees), RP Roberto Osuna (Astros), RP John Axford (Dodgers), RP Aaron Loup (Phillies), OF Curtis Granderson (Brewers), 3B Josh Donaldson (Indians).

In: SS Santiago Espinal (Red Sox), 1B Chad Spanberger (Rockies), OF Forrest Wall (Rockies), RP Bryan Baker (Rockies), 3B Brandon Drury (Yankees), OF Billy McKinney (Yankees), RP Ken Giles (Astros), RP David Paulino (Astros), SP Hector Perez (Astros), RP Corey Copping (Dodgers), SP Jacob Waguespack (Phillies), OF Demi Orimoloye (Brewers), PTBNL (Indians).

Time will tell if the sell-off brought in anything that will make a significant impact, but it’s more of a depth leaning haul than players with bluechip pedigrees.

The only pending free agents not to get dealt were injured and struggling starter Marco Estrada and veteran reliever Tyler Clippard.

 

2—No Donaldson reunion this weekend in Toronto

It was a gift from the scheduling gods that the Cleveland Indians are set to come to Toronto for a four-game series starting Thursday, but it won’t include Josh Donaldson.

On Monday, the Indians decided to place the 32-year-old third baseman on the disabled list in order to give him some extra time to fine-tune after three-plus months away from the field due to a left calf injury.

While disappointing for Jays fans hoping to see the 2015 AL MVP take to the Rogers Centre turf one final time this season, it made too much sense for the Indians to slow play Donaldson’s return.

With a 14-game lead in the AL Central, the Donaldson acquisition was always about getting him ready for October, and avoiding the media circus that his presence was sure to bring this is simply icing on the cake.

 

3—Reid-Foley headlines September call-ups

The name everyone’s waiting for (*cough, Vladdy) won’t be seen in Toronto until most likely next April, but the first wave of September call-ups joined the club in Miami over the weekend, with a handful more expected to trickle in after the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons season comes to a close Monday.

Starter Sean Reid-Foley headlined the recalls, and the 23-year-old right-hander promptly went out and struck out 10 Marlins over seven innings Sunday afternoon to earn his first win in by far the best start of his young career.

In his two-start cameo in mid-August, Reid-Foley struggled with fastball command and it led to six walks, four homers allowed, and nine earned runs over 9.1 innings.

He rectified all of those problems Sunday, keeping the ball in the ballpark and issuing just one free pass.

On the heels of each and every promotion on his minor-league journey, Reid-Foley showed an ability to adjust to a new level after initial struggles and this is a good sign he’ll be able to do the same thing once again.

Now at 146 total innings for the season, Reid-Foley should get an extended look in the rotation this month.

In addition to Reid-Foley, reliever Jose Fernandez, a 25-year-old southpaw out of the Dominican Republic, and right-hander Taylor Guerrieri, a former first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays that the Jays claimed on waivers last November, were also recalled to pitch out of the bullpen.​

 

4—Young outfielders facing uphill battle in September

If you were predicting September call-ups months ago, Anthony Alford’s name would’ve been included.

After all, he’s already debuted in the majors and he’s considered their top outfield prospect.

But Alford has struggled mightily this summer, slashing just .240/.317/.342 with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, showing very little power and getting caught stealing eight times in 25 attempts.

The 24-year-old will still head into spring training next year with a chance to earn a big-league job, but there’s no doubt some of the shine has been rubbed off his prospect status this season.

He may still be recalled, but with four outfielders on the roster and the Jays wanting to take long looks at Teoscar Hernandez and Billy McKinney, there may not be many at-bats for Alford.

Similarly, outfielder Dalton Pompey is likely spending his final days in the Blue Jays’ organization over the next four weeks.

Since rejoining the Bisons in mid-July, the 25-year-old has slashed just .233/.321/.288 and he isn’t in the plans moving forward.

 

5—Stroman gets chance to end tough season on high note

Marcus Stroman will get a chance to end a frustrating season on a high note.

Sidelined by a blister since Aug. 17, Stroman will return to face the Rays on Monday, leaving him with potentially six or seven starts this month.

It’s been a tale of two seasons for Stroman.

When he went on the DL in May with shoulder inflammation, a problem that plagued him in spring training, as well, Stroman had a 7.71 ERA.

Since returning on June 23, he’s pitched to a 3.84 ERA in 11 starts, looking more like the consistent, ground-ball-inducing starter we’ve grown accustomed to.

If Stroman finishes the season strong, you can expect the Jays to at least listen to offers for the 27-year-old this season.