There&#8217;s a chance Isiah Kiner-Falefa gets traded before he returns to the Toronto Blue Jays lineup after missing close to a month due to a knee injury. 
By all accounts, the front office is said to be primarily focused on trading its pending free agents leading up to Tuesday&#8217;s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline, a class headlined by left-handed starter Yusei Kikuchi &#8212; scheduled to make what&#8217;ll likely be his final start with the organization on Friday &#8212; and right-handed reliever Yimi García. However, they also appear to be open to expanding that group.
One player who could be on the move is Kiner-Falefa, whom the Blue Jays are willing to field calls on, according to <a href="https://fansided.com/posts/robert-murray-trade-deadline-buzz-zach-eflin-garrett-crochet-blue-jays" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fansided&#8217;s Robert Murray</a>. He added the franchise isn&#8217;t actively shopping him, but he&#8217;s likely to draw interest amidst a career season.
This aligns with an earlier report from <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/breaking-down-trade-scenarios-for-blue-jays-top-candidates/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sportsnet&#8217;s Ben Nicholson-Smith</a>, who also believes the Blue Jays aren&#8217;t shopping the 29-year-old but was told by a few executives it wouldn&#8217;t be surprising if he were traded.
Kiner-Falefa, who hasn&#8217;t played since June 30, is ahead of schedule in his injury timeline and is on track to begin a rehab assignment with triple-A Buffalo on Saturday. If all goes well, chances are he could return to the majors in early August.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Isiah Kiner-Falefa will begin his Triple-A rehab assignment Saturday if all goes well over the next couple of days, John Schneider says. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlueJays</a>
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/1816513168128331809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2024</a></blockquote>
The right-handed-hitting utilityman has excelled in the first season of a two-year, $15-million contract ($7.5-million AAV) signed with Toronto last winter. Prior to landing on the IL, he had posted career highs in several offensive categories, including AVG (.292), OBP (.338), SLG (.420), wOBA (.332), wRC+ (117), strikeout rate (13.2 per cent) and fWAR (2.0) across 83 games.
With seven home runs on the year, Kiner-Falefa is also on pace to surpass his current career-high of eight, set with the Texas Rangers in 2021.
That far exceeds his offensive showing with the New York Yankees from 2022-23, which included a measly .253/.311/.333 slash line, 10 home runs and an 84 wRC+ over those two seasons. In that span, he accounted for only 2.2 fWAR, just 0.2 points higher than his &#8217;24 rating.
If the Blue Jays trade Kiner-Falefa, it&#8217;d likely further increase Chad Green&#8217;s chances of being moved, given he&#8217;s also signed for an extra year after this season, albeit at a heftier price tag of $10.5 million.

There's a chance Isiah Kiner-Falefa gets traded before he returns to the Toronto Blue Jays lineup after missing close to a month due to a knee injury. 

By all accounts, the front office is said to be primarily focused on trading its pending free agents leading up to Tuesday's 6 p.m. ET trade deadline, a class headlined by left-handed starter Yusei Kikuchi -- scheduled to make what'll likely be his final start with the organization on Friday -- and right-handed reliever Yimi García. However, they also appear to be open to expanding that group.

One player who could be on the move is Kiner-Falefa, whom the Blue Jays are willing to field calls on, according to <a href="https://fansided.com/posts/robert-murray-trade-deadline-buzz-zach-eflin-garrett-crochet-blue-jays" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fansided's Robert Murray</a>. He added the franchise isn't actively shopping him, but he's likely to draw interest amidst a career season.

This aligns with an earlier report from <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/breaking-down-trade-scenarios-for-blue-jays-top-candidates/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith</a>, who also believes the Blue Jays aren't shopping the 29-year-old but was told by a few executives it wouldn't be surprising if he were traded.

Kiner-Falefa, who hasn't played since June 30, is ahead of schedule in his injury timeline and is on track to begin a rehab assignment with triple-A Buffalo on Saturday. If all goes well, chances are he could return to the majors in early August.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Isiah Kiner-Falefa will begin his Triple-A rehab assignment Saturday if all goes well over the next couple of days, John Schneider says. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlueJays</a>
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/1816513168128331809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2024</a></blockquote>
The right-handed-hitting utilityman has excelled in the first season of a two-year, $15-million contract ($7.5-million AAV) signed with Toronto last winter. Prior to landing on the IL, he had posted career highs in several offensive categories, including AVG (.292), OBP (.338), SLG (.420), wOBA (.332), wRC+ (117), strikeout rate (13.2 per cent) and fWAR (2.0) across 83 games.

With seven home runs on the year, Kiner-Falefa is also on pace to surpass his current career-high of eight, set with the Texas Rangers in 2021.

That far exceeds his offensive showing with the New York Yankees from 2022-23, which included a measly .253/.311/.333 slash line, 10 home runs and an 84 wRC+ over those two seasons. In that span, he accounted for only 2.2 fWAR, just 0.2 points higher than his '24 rating.

If the Blue Jays trade Kiner-Falefa, it'd likely further increase Chad Green's chances of being moved, given he's also signed for an extra year after this season, albeit at a heftier price tag of $10.5 million.

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