Royals send Whit Merrifield to Blue Jays for 2 players

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield said last month he might be willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if it meant playing for a team in contention, even though he had refused to get the shot while playing for the last-place Kansas City Royals.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield said last month he might be willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if it meant playing for a team in contention, even though he had refused to get the shot while playing for the last-place Kansas City Royals.

He’ll have to make that decision now.

In a unique and potentially unprecedented situation, the Royals traded Merrifield to the Toronto Blue Jays just minutes before the trade deadline Tuesday. And if the two-time All-Star wants to play any games in Canada down the stretch, Merrifield will be required to get one of the approved vaccines to enter the country.

“We’ll let him work through that with his family,” Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said, while declining additional comment on the matter. “We felt like we made a very good team better today.”

Merrifield was among 10 players on the Royals who were unvaccinated last month, preventing them from making their trip to Toronto. When asked about his decision, Merrifield drew the ire of Kansas City fans by saying: “Something happens and I happen to get on a team that has a chance to go play in Canada in the postseason, maybe that changes.”

Many took that to mean Merrifield was unwilling to get vaccinated for his current team but would for someone else.

“The extent of our conversation with Whit and his vaccination status ended when we were going to Toronto because after that it didn’t effect us,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “The conversations we had with Toronto, I’m going to keep private. There’s no need for me to talk about a player on another team.”

The Royals received in the deal speedy youngster Samad Taylor and right-hander Max Castillo, both of whom could help their big league team as early as this season. The 24-year-old Taylor is hitting .258 with nine homers and 23 stolen bases in 70 games for Triple-A Buffalo while the 23-year-old Castillo has a 3.05 ERA in nine appearances for Toronto.