Blue Jays send OF Joey Loperfido to Astros for OF Jesús Sánchez

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DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — The Toronto Blue Jays acquired outfielder Jesús Sánchez from the Houston Astros for outfielder Joey Loperfido on Friday.

The 28-year-old Sánchez, a trade-deadline acquisition last July, hit .237 with 14 home runs and 48 RBIs in 134 games last season between Miami and Houston. The left-handed hitter has 73 home runs in 580 games over six major league seasons.

Loperfido, 26, is going back to the Astros, who at the trade deadline in 2024 sent the then-rookie outfielder and two other players to Toronto to acquire left-hander Yusei Kikuchi.

Houston cut payroll significantly with the trade. Sánchez has a $6.8 million salary this year, is again eligible for arbitration next winter and is on track for free agency after the 2027 World Series. Loperfido is not yet eligible for arbitration and will make close to the $780,000 minimum.

The deal also follows news this week that Blue Jays outfielder Anthony Santander will have surgery on his left shoulder and is expected to miss 5 to 6 months.

Loperfido, a seventh-round pick by Houston out of Duke in the 2021 amateur draft, has appeared in 122 career major league contests between Houston and Toronto. He hit .333 with four home runs and 14 RBIs in 41 games for the Blue Jays last season.

“We feel good about his upside. The bat is trending in the right direction and the makeup is pretty special,” Astros general manager Dana Brown said Friday. “He had a really good time here before when he was here, a very good teammate and we’ve got him for five years of control. So for us, it's an exciting piece that we feel is on the upside.”

Kikuchi was 5-1 with a 2.70 ERA in his 10 starts for the Astros, who won nine of those games while winning the AL West in 2024. He then left in free agency and was an All-Star last season for the Los Angeles Angels.

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