Jays add Darwin Barney for infield help

With Troy Tulowitzki injured the Blue Jays needed help and added former Chicago Cubs gold glove winner Darwin Barney from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

By Andrew Hendriks
Canadian Baseball Network
In a move aimed at shoring up the Blue Jays infield following an injury to Troy Tulowitzki during Saturday’s opener of the doubleheader against the New York Yankees, Toronto acquired Darwin Barney from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later.

Barney, a former fourth round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs, has spent parts of six seasons in the big leagues, posting a career slashline of .245/.293/.336 across 2065 plate appearances between the Cubs and Dodgers.

Known primarily for his defense, Barney, 29, came in seventh with regards to Rookie of the Year voting in 2011 and, a year later, captured his first Gold Glove award after taking the field in 156 of the Cubs 162 games in 2012.

Considering that Devon Travis is likely done for the season, the acquisition affords Toronto another strong gloved infielder to join Ryan Goins, Cliff Pennington and Munenori Kawasaki as the club vies for it’s first post-season berth since winning it all in 1993.

With the move, Goins can now transition his Gold Glove calibre defense to shortstop while both Barney and Pennington, given their career splits to this point, are likely to split time at second base in a platoon role for the remainder of the season should Tulowitzki not be ready prior to Oct. 4th.

Pennington G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
vs RHP ..... 682 1937 1717 208 427 77 16 24 155 66 17 175 364 .249 .320 .354 .674
vs LHP ..... 367  719 648 70 154 31 3 5 49 14 10 51 119 .238 .296 .318 .614    

Barney G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
vs RHP ..... 498 1554 1427 168 341 63 9 13 123 16 3 79 171 .239 .285 .323 .608
vs LHP ..... 233 511 471 56 124 26 4 6 30 4 2 35 64 .263 .318 .374 .692    
    
In 2015, Barney appeared in only two games with the Dodgers level, spending the majority of his season the triple-A Oklahoma where he slashed .277/.325/.354 with four home runs in 96 games for the OKC Dodgers.

Under team control through 2016, Barney joined the Jays in New York as Toronto for the finale of the four game series against the second place Yankees on Sunday afternoon.

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