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Trevor Williams? Taijuan Walker? Nate Eovaldi? Scouting the sellers for starting rotation upgrades!
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Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Cam Lewis
Aug 25, 2020, 07:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 25, 2020, 05:37 EDT
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It was mentioned last week that the Blue Jays, who have a very legitimate shot at cracking the playoffs, are in the market to upgrade their team ahead of the trade deadline.
Specifically, Ross Atkins said that adding starting pitching depth would be the team’s top priority. And that was before Matt Shoemaker and Trent Thornton got placed on the 10-day Injured List. Now there’s an even bigger need for more arms who can eat up innings.
So, where can the Blue Jays find starting pitching? Let’s look through the handful of teams who might be selling this week…

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates are the only National League team not in the mix for the playoffs. Everybody other than the 7-17 Pirates is within a game of a playoff spot in the NL, so they could go either way depending on how they play this week.
According to Jon Morosi, the Jays have shown interest in a pair of Pirates’ right-handers, Trevor Williams and Chad Kuhl.
These are the types of upgrades I would expect the front office to go after rather than a rental. As important as it is to push for meaningful baseball, it would be counterintuitive to the long-term plan to throw prospects and depth away for short-term solutions. Both Williams and Kuhl have two years of control left, meaning they can help the Jays win beyond this season.
There’s also an obvious tie here as Ben Cherington, who spent the last few years working in the Jays’ front office, is now the general manager of the Pirates.

Los Angeles Angels 

Despite signing Anthony Rendon to a huge contract in the off-season, the Angels yet again suck ass and are on their way to wasting another year of Mike Trout.
Jeff Passan wrote in his trade deadline preview at ESPN that one of the deals he would make is sending shortstop maestro Andrelton Simmons to Toronto. Passan notes that the Jays are a prime team to acquire Simmons’ elite glove to shore up their infield defence. But Simmons is a rental and doesn’t carry a big bat, so I’m not sure it’s worthwhile.
If they’re going to go the rental route for an infield upgrade, Tommy La Stella, who’s slashing a .269/.361/.452 line would be the better fit. Another name to look at here is Dylan Bundy, who has been excellent this year (2.58 ERA over six starts) and is under control for another year.

Seattle Mariners

Another name mentioned by Morosi is Seattle’s Taijuan Walker. Morosi notes that given the fact the Jays and Mariners made the Daniel Vogelbach trade, they’ve clearly been in contact over the past few days. That would mean they’ve probably discussed other players too.
Walker is a rental, but he’s been good this year, posting a 4.00 ERA through five starts. If the Mariners are blowing it all up (which they likely are) maybe the Jays could make a multi-player move for Walker and veteran Kyle Seager. Seager is signed for another couple of years and would give Toronto a much-needed veteran bat in the middle of the lineup.

Boston Red Sox

I might be insane, but Nate Eovaldi makes a bunch of sense.
The Red Sox are obviously sellers and they’re actively trying to shed payroll, as they have been ever since Chiam Bloom took over. Eovaldi is signed for two more years at $17,000,000. Given that price tag, the Sox wouldn’t be looking for anything in return for their current de facto ace.
Eovaldi isn’t amazing, but he’s had success in the AL East and he has World Series pedigree. At this stage, the Jays are better off stomaching an ugly contract in order to make an upgrade rather than giving up prospect capital.
Maybe the Sox could throw an outfield upgrade, like, say, I don’t know, maybe Kevin Pillar into the mix too, as a sweetener! Ha haaaa!

Anyone else?

  • The Giants are currently in a playoff spot, so they might not be sellers like previously anticipated. If they are, Kevin Gausman would be a nice fit for the Blue Jays. They had some interest in signing him back in the off-season.
  • The Brewers have been a disaster this year and could end up selling. If they do, a couple of familiar veterans faces might make sense for the Jays — Eric Sogard and Brett Anderson. Joe Panik was supposed to be this year’s Sogard, but that obviously hasn’t happened, and Anderson is a decent back-end starter. The Jays and Brewers linked up in the off-season for Chase Anderson swap, so maybe they can help each other out again.
  • Hilariously enough, it looks like Toronto’s top competition for the playoffs is the Orioles and Tigers, two teams we all figured would be at the bottom of the standings. Matt Boyd, one of the guys Toronto sent in the David Price trade, could be an option to come back and complete the circle. His 8.48 ERA is hilariously bad but he’s striking out 10.4 batters per nine and could rebound with a better defence behind him. And, with Baltimore, the obvious upgrade for the Jays would be Alex Cobb, who’s signed for one more year at $15,000,000. But would either the Tigers or Orioles help out a team competing with them for a playoff spot?

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