Back in 2015, we made a trade for Troy Tulowitzki at the trade deadline. Jose Reyes had fallen out of favor (putting it mildly), so the Blue Jays made a major move to offload him.At the time, it was a successful trade. We made the playoffs in both 2015 and 2016, and none of the prospects the Rockies received turned into standout players (though Miguel Castro showed improvement last season).However, the 2017 and 2018 seasons didn’t go as well. Troy was injured for most of that period and missed all of 2018.During his time with the Blue Jays, he posted a .250/.313/.414 line over 238 games—decent numbers if he had played strong defense. But that’s harder to justify when you’re paying $20 million a year.We released him on December 11, 2018, and the Yankees signed him a month later. After he hit a home run off Marcus Stroman during spring training, fans on Twitter were questioning why we let him go. I advised patience. He played just five games for the Yankees before landing on the injured list, and when he was ready to return, the Yankees told him to stay home. Shortly after, he announced his retirement.Troy Tulowitzki’s time in Toronto could have gone much better if not for the severe ankle injury he suffered on July 28, 2017, while trying to beat out a ground ball. He stepped on the side of C.J. Cron’s foot at first base, and it was one of the most painful-looking injuries I’ve ever seen on a baseball field. That, combined with bone spurs, derailed the rest of his 2017 and 2018 seasons.Before that, he played ten seasons with the Rockies, posting a .299/.371/.513 line with 188 home runs in 1,048 games. I was there in Denver when he returned to play for the first time after the trade to the Jays, and it was great to see how much love the fans in Denver still had for him.If he had managed a few more injury-free seasons, he could have had a shot at the Baseball Hall of Fame.Watching him make a throw on the run was something special—it was a true thing of beauty.
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