As MLB trade deadline nears, Blue Jays are expected to sell

Article content

With no games to be played until Friday when Detroit comes to town to begin a three-game series and an all-star break that will allow players — other than Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — to decompress, the Blue Jays find themselves in this period of unease knowing just about anything can happen to the roster.

Article content

What the future holds as the July 30 trade deadline nears remains the big unknown.

What is known is that change awaits a Toronto team that enters the break following an 8-7 win over the host Arizona Diamondbacks that prevented it from being swept for the third time this season.

The Jays led 7-0 at one point and needed a depleted and at-times-besieged bullpen to produce 4.1 scoreless innings, not to mention a Statcast-projected 438-foot home run in the seventh inning by Vlad Jr., to hold off the Diamondbacks.

One can look back and see at the injuries, walk-off losses, blown games when the pen imploded, the 17 games in which the Jays managed to score but one run, the three times they were shutout, whatever managerial moves John Schneider made or didn’t make, a lineup that seems to change game to game and a beleaguered front office that has not endeared itself to the team’s fanbase.

Article content

Article content

There is much to digest and debate as baseball’s unofficial mid-season point arrives, marked by Tuesday night’s mid-summer classic when Vlad Jr. will be the team’s lone representative.

Big picture, it all comes down to what happens in the near term with several pending free agents poised to be on the move.

When the off-season officially arrives, even bigger questions will be on the Jays’ plate, questions surrounding the fate of GM Ross Atkins, whether Vlad Jr. and/or Bo Bichette will be extended to long-term deals or whether one or both will be traded.

If it’s any consolation, the Jays’ clubhouse is made up of veterans who understand the business of baseball and its many vagaries, a group of veterans who play like pros and act like pros, in good times and bad.

Article content

Any way one cares to break down the 2024 Blue Jays’ season as they hit the all-star break, it’s hard to argue that it has been bad with moments of utter humiliation.

Recall Saturday’s late-night debacle at Chase Field, when Arizona obliterated the Jays to the tune of 12-1.

The following day, the Jays bounced back, survived a comeback and ultimately prevailed.

Yusei Kikuchi, who is in the final year of his three-year deal, couldn’t make it out of the fifth inning after recording a career-high 13 strikeouts in his previous start against the San Francisco Giants.

The likable lefty likely will hear his name bandied about in trade speculation with a high probability he’ll be pitching for a new team before the month’s end.

Article content

“It’s totally out of my hands, out of my control, and all I can do is prepare for my next start,” Kikuchi said through an interpreter following Sunday’s win.

“There are a lot of positives to take away from the first half. Aside from that fifth inning (when he was charged with seven earned runs, which included yielding a grand slam), I feel like I’m in a really good spot. I’m still looking forward to the second half.”

Precisely how many more starts Kikuchi will experience in a Blue Jays jersey is anyone’s guess.

Kevin Kiermaier, who was symbolically kicked to the curb when the Jays placed him on revocable waivers late last week, hit his third career grand slam in a six-run fourth inning.

No suitor came forward because no team wanted to pick up the tab for the balance of Kiermaier’s contract.

Article content

Whether the veteran is outright released or some asset gets extracted in a trade, either way the writing is on the wall for Kiermaier, who recorded the final out Sunday when he secured a fly ball hit to centre field.

“He’s a baseball player,” Schneider lauded, “a veteran guy and he understands the business of it.

“Kevin’s been doing that his whole career, overcoming things.”

Justin Turner is a veteran who also is likely to be moved.

Yimi Garcia wasn’t activated from the injured list when he rejoined the team in Arizona, but the reliever also is expected to get moved.

The list is as long as any Jays losing streak, which technically reached a season-high seven games last month when Toronto was swept at home by the Red Sox and on the road against the Guardians.

Article content

There’s Danny Jansen, the likes of a Trevor Richards, perhaps even an Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who is having a very good season despite a knee injury that landed him on the IL.

With additional pending free agents looming in 2025, there’s no guarantee starters such as Kevin Gausman or Chris Bassitt will be around come this August and, for that matter, even a Chad Green, who recorded a four-out save Sunday.

It would surprise, if not shock, many if George Springer and his bloated salary gets moved in the coming weeks, but anything is possible.

A starting infield featuring Spencer Horwitz, Leo Jimenez and Ernie Clement was not a trio anyone saw coming when the season began back on March 28, though it does beg the question why Horwitz was not called up much earlier based on how well he has performed at the plate.

Sunday also marked the MLB debut of outfielder Steward Berroa, who had quite the adventurous ninth inning in right field after playing eight rather uneventful innings.

Out of the pen came the likes of Ryan Burr and Brendon Little, whom no one, even the most diehard fan of the club, would have known prior to their arrival in Toronto.

Get used to seeing familiar faces being moved and some unheralded players thrust into the spotlight as the clock ticks.

fzicarelli@postmedia.com

Article content