At the deadline last week, the Blue Jays traded then suspended closer Roberto Osuna for weirdly unproductive Ken Giles. It wasn’t that long ago that Giles was traded to the Astros for Vince Velasquez, Mark Appel, right-handed pitcher Harold Arauz, and infielder Jonathan Arauz. With Giles coming off two seasons that had him post ERA’s under 2.00, The Astros just kept on building their superior bullpen.

Well times have changed. Giles, for some reason this year, has gotten ripped so much that the Astros actually sent him down to Triple-A in mid July. So with really no place in Houston’s system, they decided to send him to the Blue Jays for someone else not wanted by their organization anymore. Roberto Osuna. Why would the Blue Jays give up one of the best young relievers in baseball you may ask? Because he was serving a 75 game suspension for violating Major League Baseballs domestic violence policy.

No organization, just like a business company, does not want any of their employees to have a record of violence or anything like that. In the world of professional athletics, some people are forgiven for their harsher crimes or mishaps they have had in the past. Solely because they have a special ability that more than half the world can’t succeed at. For example, Greg Hardy of the great Dallas Cowboys who has had his fair share of run in’s with the law. Including in 2015 being accused of doing something to his ex-gf, to which he was given a 10 game ban that was later reduced to four with the charges being dropped in court. And in 2017, he was caught with cocaine in his wallet, only to deny any wrongdoing and put the blame on someone else. But since this man is 6’5 280, he is always going to be sought after. Side note: He is actually fighting as a MMA fighter at the moment, and doing pretty well.

But Hardy and Osuna do have something in common, besides their hate for mean women who don’t show them respect, there services are still wanted.

The swap between the two teams was perfect for both. Both had over stayed their welcome with their prior clubs, both clubs didn’t want either, and now they have a change of scenery and everyone in their new town doesn’t even remember why either was let go. They’re just happy they have a new addition. This begs the question; Was it the right move by Houston taking on a player for questionable past behavior?

Yes it was. The Astros have nothing to lose with this trade. Already having one the best bullpens in baseball, Houston was probably on the other side of the phone giddy as hell that Toronto actually took the bait. Osuna is 23 years old. the man has done nothing except dominate since making his debut at the young age of 20. Already with 104 saves in his career, he has many more years of dominating teams to come. The Astros released statements upon acquiring Osuna and had this to say:

“We are excited to welcome Roberto Osuna to our team,” said Luhnow. “The due diligence by our front office was unprecedented. We are confident that Osuna is remorseful, has willfully complied with all consequences related to his past behavior, has proactively engaged in counseling, and will fully comply with our zero tolerance policy related to abuse of any kind. Roberto has some great examples of character in our existing clubhouse that we believe will help him as he and his family establish a fresh start.”

Would you just look at it. Decency is shown even in the world of baseball. That was the General Manager, Jeff Luhnow,  speaking on behalf of his newest acquisition. Seems like a pretty decent guy to understand that the man is 23, he fucked up one time in his life, and is willing to give him a fresh start. Not to mention he’s adding one of the top bullpen arms in all of baseball. Besides that, from more of a human aspect, it was a beautiful display of forgiveness and understanding towards a situation that had a lot of negative light shown on it.

For Giles, Toronto hopes he regains his 2017 form and is off to a pretty shitty start by allowing 5 runs to the Red Sox with only recording 2 outs on August 7th. I’m sure he tried his best out there but sometimes it doesn’t cut it.

When the Astros make this playoffs this year, every time you see Roberto Osuna dominate, remember they gave up a dude who they didn’t care about at all and got a nice bullpen piece in return. Or even more important, their closer of the future.