Trade Deadline Eve Notes: Andrelton Simmons, Lance Lynn, Freddy Galvis, and more!

Well, here we are. The trade deadline is under 24 hours away, and, just as we all expected at the beginning of the season, the Blue Jays are 18-14 with a playoff run on the horizon.

The team has already made a couple of additions, acquiring Daniel Vogelbach and Taijuan Walker from the Seattle Mariners, but Ross Atkins has said that he expects to be active ahead of Monday’s deadline. So, who else could the team bring into the mix?

The obvious place to add would be the starting rotation. Bringing in Walker gives the rotation some more depth, but it’s still a pretty shaky group behind him and Ryu. Trent Thornton is done for the season, Matt Shoemaker’s return from injury will help, and we don’t know if Nate Pearson will be starting when he returns or if he’ll be used as a multi-inning guy out of the ‘pen as we’ve seen with Thomas Hatch and Anthony Kay.

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Blue Jays are one of the teams (along with the San Diego Padres, L.A. Dodgers, Oakland, A’s, and Chicago White Sox) who are in on Texas Rangers’ ace Lance Lynn.

Lynn would be a huuuuge add to Toronto’s rotation. He’s pitched a league-leading 51 1/3 innings through eight starts this year and he’s posted a sparking 1.93 ERA. His peripherals of 9.8 strikeouts and 3.0 walks per nine suggest he might be overachieving a tad, but, still, Lynn is a legit top-end workhorse that would add some much-needed stability to the rotation.

The other nice thing about Lynn is that he isn’t a rental like Walker. Lynn is signed for 2021 at a very reasonable $8,000,000 price tag. But, with that in mind, and given the number of teams apparently in on him, the price will surely be steep. Toronto sent Seattle a PTBNL for Walker, one that’s apparently ranked on the lower side of their top-30 prospects list, but Lynn would net a much bigger return.

Another interesting situation to watch will be Cleveland.

They’re a legitimate contender with a 21-12 record, but they have a lot of pitching depth and needs elsewhere on the team. They’re also cheap as fuck, so selling a pricey player to bring in cheaper help-now options wouldn’t be all too surprising.

Mike Clevinger is the name that seems inevitable to move. He and teammate Zach Plesac got optioned earlier in the season after breaking the team’s COVID-19 policy and that very likely soured the two of them and the rest of the team.

Clevinger is a legit top-end arm with two more years left of control. He’s also somebody that Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins know given the fact Cleveland acquired him back in 2014. As Jon Heyman reports above, the Braves, Yankees, Dodgers, and Padres have been in contact with Cleveland, but we haven’t heard anything about the Jays reaching out.

Moving away from pitchers, we also have this from Jon Morosi, saying that the Jays have “checked in” on Angels’ shortstop Andrelton Simmons.

Now, “checked in” really means nothing, this is just your standard Morosi rumour with little to no substance. But it would make sense for the Jays to seek an upgrade on the left side of the infield. We don’t know when Bo Bichette is going to be back and using Joe Panik in that position obviously isn’t ideal. Simmons doesn’t bring a huge bat, but he’s got one of, if not the best glove at short in the game.

Another shortstop out there is Freddy Galvis, who Chris Henderson over at Jays Journal suggests would make a lot of sense for the Blue Jays to re-acquire.

Galvis, of course, spent a good chunk of 2019 with the Jays before getting shoved off of the roster when Bichette got called up. He’s slashing a solid .220/.304/.451 line, he’s got a good glove, and he’s somebody the team knows.

Not like it really matters, but it would be pretty funny if the Jays ended up sending a prospect to Cincinnati for somebody they gave away for free last year, though.

Here’s something really funny.

A Milwaukee Brewers writer did a speculation post suggesting that the Blue Jays badly needed help in their bullpen because Ken Giles is injured. And, of course, despite the fact the Jays boast the second-highest bullpen WAR in baseball, they don’t feature any big names, so it mustn’t be real.

Anyways, this guy suggests that Nate Pearson should be dealt from Toronto to Milwaukee for Josh Hader. Fuck me, might as well add Austin Martin and Bichette while you’re at it! Gotta fix that terrible ‘pen somehow!!!

Here’s some good news out of Boston. The Red Sox have sent Blue Jays Killer Mitch Moreland as faaaar away as possible.

Moreland is heading to San Diego, which is great, because it means the Jays won’t see him again this season (until the Padres-Jays World Series, of course). Moreland had gone 7-for-17 against the Jays this season with four (!!!!!) home runs.

Having him get dealt right before the Jays play four games in Boston is very ideal. Let’s hope the Sox unload some more before Monday.

Elsewhere in the American League East, it seems the Jays have sunk Baltimore’s ship. The O’s have decided to be a seller ahead of the deadline despite their hot start, as they’ve traded Tommy Milone (who was supposed to be Monday’s starter) to Atlanta and reliever Mychal Givens to Colorado.

I think the Jays were the nail in the coffin to Baltimore’s season, which you absolutely love to see. Since the O’s have mailed it in, the Detroit Tigers are suddenly Toronto’s biggest competition for the eighth playoff spot in the AL. I like their chances.