Rookie Yohendrick Pinango has already made this trade a win for the Blue Jays

"Ever since his big league debut on April 26, the rookie out of Venezuela has done everything the team could have asked of him as he has hit .375/.412/.438 with an OPS of .849. While he's still looking for his first big league home run he's out-hit everyone on the team, and it's not particularly close."

"That comes with the caveat that Piñango has only 34 at-bats over that time, while his teammates have upwards of 60+, but when he has been called upon, he has delivered. The 23-year-old left-handed hitting outfielder has been so good in his short MLB stint that he's been more valuable than the player the Blue Jays traded to acquire him - Nate Pearson."

"When looking at the bWAR analytic specifically, Piñango's career bWAR of 0.3 is already higher than what Pearson, a former first round Blue Jays' draft pick, has accumulated in his time in the big leagues. Pearson's career -1.0 bWAR is reflection on both a failure by the Blue Jays front office, and a success since they managed to make up for it."

"The failure on the Blue Jays' part is that Pearson is just one of a long line of players the Blue Jays drafted that never panned out. While you can say that about a lot of general managers in the Major Leagues, the Blue Jays track record of drafting and developing starting pitchers has been awful. Pearson, taken with the 28th overall pick of the 2017 draft, was Ross Atkins' second crack at the can that is the MLB draft."

Yohendrick Piñango has delivered standout early performance for the Toronto Blue Jays since his MLB debut on April 26, posting a .375/.412/.438 line with an .849 OPS. He has not yet hit a home run, but he has been the team’s top hitter by a wide margin. His production comes in only 34 at-bats, while many teammates have far more opportunities. Piñango’s short stint has made him more valuable than Nate Pearson, the player Toronto traded to acquire him. Using bWAR, Piñango’s career bWAR of 0.3 exceeds Pearson’s -1.0, reflecting a drafting and development failure for Toronto’s pitching pipeline.

Read at Jays Journal