SATURDAY: Toronto may have to wait a week to learn the full extent of Reyes's injury, but may look to add depth up the middle in the meantime, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. According to Rosenthal, the Jays have recalled Kawasaki to take Reyes's spot on the active roster, but could still look to acquire a player like the recently designated Cody Ransom or the Diamondbacks' Josh Wilson. (Links via Twitter.)
Other trade targets could include Mike Aviles, John McDonald, Yuniesky Betancourt, Jonathan Herrera, Ramiro Pena, Cesar Izturis, or even Dee Gordon, writes Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star. ESPN.com's Buster Olney offers (on Insider) that McDonald may make sense, since he occupies a limited role with a Pirates club that has other options.
FRIDAY: With Jose Reyes' health in question following a left ankle spain, Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told reporters (including Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star) that he had already talked to other general managers about possible deals to fill the void if the star shortstop is out for an extended period of time. Anthopoulos said Reyes' "best case scenario" is a one-month stint on the DL while the worst case scenario would be a three-month injury layoff, though the shortstop will undergo an MRI tomorrow to determine the extent of the damage.
Reyes suffered the nasty-looking ankle injury while sliding into second base in the sixth inning of the Jays' 8-4 win over the Royals on Friday night and had to be carted off the field. He entered the game hitting .412/.487/.559 in nine games and added another hit and two RBIs against Kansas City.
This is the biggest blow yet to a Toronto club that has struggled early in the season amidst high preseason expectations. The Jays are already thin in the infield with Brett Lawrie on the DL and, as a scout told CBS Sports' Danny Knobler, Reyes is the player they could least afford to lose given their lack of depth at shortstop. For now the Jays will use some combination of Mark DeRosa, Emilio Bonifacio and Maicer Izturis at third, short and second The team's Triple-A infield options with Major League experience include the likes of Andy LaRoche, Munenori Kawasaki, Eugenio Velez, Mike McCoy and Mauro Gomez.
Jeff Todd contributed to this post.
