TORONTO -- The chemistry of the Toronto Blue Jays' clubhouse has been altered.
Shortstop Jose Reyes -- one of the liveliest and most popular players among his teammates in Toronto -- was sent to the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday along with reliever Miguel Castro and minor-league pitchers Jeff Hoffman and Jesus Tinoco.
Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and veteran reliever LaTroy Hawkins were sent to Toronto in return. Although the deal made good baseball sense, many Blue Jays will miss the intangibles Reyes brought to the club.
"He was more than just a part of it, I think he might have been the centrepiece of all of it," said outfielder Jose Bautista about Toronto's team chemistry. "Hopefully him leaving doesn't effect us negatively when it comes to the chemistry and the energy here.
"We're all professionals though, we can't use that as an excuse for anything. We've just got to figure it out."
The 32-year-old Reyes had a .285 batting average with four home runs, 34 RBIs and 16 stolen bases in 69 games with Toronto this season. Tulowtizki, 30, is hitting .300 with 12 home runs, 53 RBIs and no stolen bases in 87 games with Colorado.
"Obviously, Reyes is going to be missed," said third baseman Josh Donaldson, who was traded to Toronto from Oakland in the off-season. "But at the same time, I think obviously we got one of the top shortstops in the game."
Reyes was acquired by Toronto in a 2012 blockbuster trade with the Miami Marlins.
The speedy Reyes is signed through 2017 on a $106 million, six-year contract he received from Miami. A four-time all-star with the New York Mets, Reyes has been troubled by injuries throughout his career.
"Sucks letting some people go, but it's always good to get great players in return," said Bautista, who said he considers Reyes a part of his family.
Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos and manager John Gibbons spoke with Reyes late Monday night to tell him about the trade before he found out himself either online or from friends or family telling him. Bautista visited Reyes at home after that meeting to say goodbye to his friend.
Both Anthopoulos and Gibbons said that Reyes was sad to be leaving Toronto and that he enjoyed playing with the team and living in the city.
"We're going to miss Jose. I'm going to miss him, personally," said Gibbons. "I love the guy. Two and a half years with him. He brought a lot of energy, he showed up to play every day. He has that big personality."
