Red Sox trade for Danny Jansen could create bizarre compensation scenario

Danny Jansen can’t be in two places at once, but the catcher could play for two teams simultaneously later this season.

Seriously. When the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays resume their suspended play on August 26, Jansen could be on either side of the stat sheet.

On June 26, Jansen played catcher for the Blue Jays against the Red Sox. The game was suspended in the second inning due to rain. The game was rescheduled as part of a double-header in August. Coincidentally, Jansen was at bat, with the score tied at 0-1, when the game was stopped. He will not be able to finish that at-bat.

On Saturday, Toronto traded Jansen to the Red Sox. If he plays for Boston in that game, he will become the first MLB player anyone can think of to appear for both teams in a game.

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The circumstances in which a player is allowed to play on both sides of a matchup are extremely rare. It is no surprise that this has not happened before. The likelihood that two trading partners have suspended a game earlier in the season is quite small.

Of course, we don’t want to count all our eggs before they hatch. Jansen will have to actually play for the Red Sox in the first game of that doubleheader on August 26th for these speculations to become reality.

It’s not certain. Jansen is expected to form a platoon with Connor Wong. Sharing duties means there’s no guarantee Jansen will be up when that race is over.

But come on! Jansen will undoubtedly want to own this unique piece of baseball history. Alex Cora needs to do the right thing and make sure the new addition is in the battery when the Blue Jays come back to town.