MLBTR’s new deadline preview series (available to Front Office subscribers) continues with a look at the Blue Jays, who held a 26-28 record on May 27 and seemed to be headed for another also-ran season. However, the Jays have since won 29 of their last 40 games, pushing Toronto to the top of the AL East. With the postseason now looking like a very realistic possibility, the Jays have plenty of options available to them as they consider roster upgrades.
Record: 55-39 (89.3% playoff probability, per FanGraphs)
Other series entries: Rockies, Giants, Phillies, Pirates, Astros, Marlins, Athletics, Orioles, White Sox, Nationals, Cubs, Rays, Dodgers, Braves, Yankees, Angels, Mets
Buy Mode
Potential needs: Starting pitching, relief pitching, outfield depth, bench depth, possibly third base
Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, and Chris Bassitt have been invaluable to the Blue Jays, as the steadiness and durability of the top three starters helped keep the pitching staff on track amidst some early chaos at the back end of the rotation. Minor league signing Eric Lauer has a 2.78 ERA over 55 innings, and his entry into the fourth starter's spot was a key element of Toronto's success over the last six weeks. Max Scherzer has pitched only 23 innings due to his ever-present thumb problems, and it remains to be seen whether or not Scherzer can remain healthy enough to contribute as a full-fledged starter or perhaps as a piggyback starter in front of a long reliever.
Even with Alek Manoah aiming to return from UCL surgery at some point in August, Manoah's own struggles since Opening Day 2023 make him far from a possible savior. The Jays could obviously use an extra arm to help stabilize the starting five, as if Lauer starts to regress or one of the top three starters gets injured, the pitching situation could quickly go south. That would in turn put more pressure on the bullpen, which itself could use some reinforcement after tossing a lot of innings over the first half.
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Kudos to Blue Jays so far. Houser and Tauchman for SP/OF depth makes sense w/o giving up a ton.
I doubt they’d be interested in a left handed bat like Tauchman. He will be a good pickup for somebody though.
The Sox need hitters badly preferring OF/SS type prospects, the Will Robertson trade doesn’t count whatsoever.
Emmanuelle clase or another high leverage reliever
Unless a middle of the order bat becomes available nipple at the fringes — depth starter, reliever etc….
Nibble not nipple lol
Hear him out
“Nibble not nipple”…Hey, speak for yourself. Some of us guys definitely prefer nipples to nibbles.
nibble on the nipple?
good idea!
That’s how you get that country strength. Pure protein
My new iPhone is a lemon 😭
Turn off auto-fill in settings or whatever its called.
It is off — reason number 784 it’s a lemon lol
Keller, Bednar and Reynolds or Ramirez and Clase and you can have my top 5 prospects.
Problem is the pirates are looking for ML-ready hitters. Jays don’t have many prospects that meet that description. Maybe someone on the current ML roster?
Clement
Might want to check Ernie’s age
I’m pretty sure Reynolds has TOR as one of the 6 teams on his NTC. Shame, he’d be a decent get and wouldn’t break the bank to acquire i would think.
He has all major markets on the list. Could be so he can negotiate a contract extension first. I saw that written somewhere. Some baseball writer guy said it.
@sovietcanuckistanian
Correct. The Jays are on his list. The Yankees, Mets, and Padres are also on. I can’t remember the others though. Maybe the Savannah Bananas?
Dodgers
Sadly, can’t read the whole article, no pay subscription.
Jays need a front of the rotation starter and a back end of the rotation starter.
Jays need a power bat 3B would be nice too since Santander and Varsho are like glass this year.
This is the year to sell the entire farm if necessary.
Wagner, Loperfido, Nimmala, Yesavage, Martinez, Bloss, Tiedemann Roden, Jimenez, Clase should be all available for trading.
Let’s watch what Shapiro and Atkins do at the trade deadline.
Agreed, this the year to go all in. Although if Nimmala goes, it better be something special with a team friendly contract coming back
Lost me at Nimmala and Yesavage. If they are moving it better be for superstar level pitcher with term
Rogers will never allow them to move Nimmala. The Indian market is untapped in baseball, and with the way Toronto’s immigration has worked lately, it stands to reason that Rogers is going to make a small fortune off that player alone. You’re going to lose Chris Bassitt next year, you’re going to need pitching with control and that’s Yesavage. Everyone else is on the table though
I’m sure the Jays will resign Bassitt. Better hope its just for 1yr and not more
Indians live with 40 ppl in a basement. Rogers isn’t targeting a race that traditionally doesn’t spend money
I’d love to see the Jays trade for Louis Robert. He’s gotta be better than he’s playing. He would add a lot of speed to the team.
Who would he take ABs from in the OF when varsho comes back
Whatever they do…Shapiro will screw it up, like he has the past 20 years.