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By Jackson Roberts
Contributing Sports Writer
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As the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets both look to exact some revenge for how their seasons ended last year, an intriguing minor leaguer just left one organization for the other.
Infielder Eddinson Paulino was a Blue Jays farmhand for the last year and a half, having arrived in a deadline trade with the Boston Red Sox in exchange for catcher Danny Jansen. He'd put together some solid seasons in the lower levels of the minors early in his career, but last season in Double-A, his offense lagged behind where the Blue Jays might have wanted it to be.
The result was that Toronto declined to elevate Paulino to the 40-man roster this winter, and he elected minor-league free agency to seek an organization that might offer him a pathway to his major league debut someday. Late in the offseason, the Mets became that team.
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On Monday, Paulino signed a minor-league deal with the Mets, according to the official transactions log on his roster page. He was assigned to High-A St. Lucie upon arrival, but could still be reassigned to Double-A or even Triple-A before the season officially begins.
There are some tools to be excited about in Paulino's profile; he's popped double-digit home runs in three of the past four seasons and stole more than 25 bases in both 2022 and 2023. The performance was simply too inconsistent for the Blue Jays to prioritize him as a candidate for a future promotion, as he managed just a .198 batting average at Double-A New Hampshire last year.
Though he won't likely make his major league debut anytime soon, the Mets could certainly justify this addition and make the Blue Jays feel the sting if they get Paulino's on-base stats back on track. He's a versatile and athletic infielder, and this will be an important year in his development as he turns 24 over the summer.
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