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News and Notes: Yankees apparently interested in Chad Green, Danny Jansen trade looking less likely, and more
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Photo credit: Brian Bradshaw Sevald-USA TODAY Sports
Cam Lewis
Jul 23, 2024, 15:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 23, 2024, 15:01 EDT
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The slate of Major League Baseball games this week could have a considerable impact on the market at this year’s trade deadline.
With one week remaining until the July 30 deadline, there are nearly a dozen teams within a few games of a playoff spot who still don’t have a clear path on whether to buy, sell, or stand pat.
For a team like the Texas Rangers, for example, a big week could significantly alter their playoff chances. The defending World Series Champions are at 48-52 on the season, they’re four games back of the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners in the AL West, and they’re seven-and-a-half back behind a handful of teams in the Wild Card standings.
That doesn’t seem too promising, but they’re hosting the dead-last Chicago White Sox this week and then they’ll face the Blue Jays on the weekend. The last time the Rangers came to Toronto, they pulled off a four-game sweep that helped them climb into first place in their division. Going 6-1 or 5-2 this week could have a similar effect.
If the Rangers can’t capitalize on their schedule, they might consider looking ahead to the future, just as it’s been indicated that the Blue Jays are doing. If they do, the team could look to move impending free agents such as left-handed starter Andrew Heaney and relievers Kirby Yates and Jose Leclerc ahead of the trade deadline to help reload for the following season.
The top rental assets the Blue Jays have this year are Yusei Kikuchi and Yimi Garcia, a middle-rotation starter and a late-innings fireballer, so having the Rangers fall into buyer or stand-pat territory would be preferable to them selling. The Blue Jays obviously won’t punt their games with Texas this weekend, but many Toronto fans will be rooting for the Rangers.

The Yankees are apparently interested in Chad Green

It’s been reported that the Blue Jays have told other teams that they aren’t planning to trade players who are under control beyond this season but that they’ll listen to offers. Among the non-rental players who could be moved is reliever Chad Green, who has drawn interest from the New York Yankees, according to Jon Morosi.
Green spent his entire seven-year Major League career with the Yankees before signing with the Blue Jays in free agency ahead of the 2023 season. He had undergone Tommy John surgery the previous season and signed a multi-option contract with the Blue Jays that gave the team a few options over how to proceed based on his recovery.
The Blue Jays liked what they saw in Green’s 12 big-league appearances in September and activated an option that locked Green into a two-year contract for 2024 and 2025 worth $10.5 million. The veteran right-hander has been worth the investment, as Green has posted a 1.88 ERA with seven saves over 28 appearances for the Blue Jays this season.
It’s certainly worth noting that Morosi has a very spotty history with reporting around Blue Jays transactions. Most notably, he reported back in November that Shohei Ohtani was on a flight to Toronto to sign with the Blue Jays and that didn’t wind up happening.
But that being said, Morosi has been right about news related to both the Blue Jays and Yankees in the past and the logic around why New York would want to re-acquire Green is reasonable. The 33-year-old has been effective this season and he’s proved that he can handle the pressure of pitching in The Bronx.

A Danny Jansen trade is looking less likely

Another team in the messy middle of the standings that might be relevant to the Blue Jays is the Chicago Cubs, who sit 49-53 on the season and are nine games back in the NL Central and three-and-a-half back of the Wild Card.
The Cubs and Blue Jays were linked earlier this season as possible trade partners because Chicago is badly in need of a catcher. The team has used Yan Gomes, Tomas Nido, and Miguel Amaya behind the plate this season and they’ve combined for a -1.8 WAR, the third-lowest of any team’s catchers, per Baseball-Reference.
Danny Jansen would have been an obvious rental option for the Cubs if they were in buyer mode, but the team appears to be standing pat and looking ahead.
Jansen has had an up-and-down season. He started the season on the Injured List because of a fractured wrist suffered during Spring Training and was arguably the team’s best hitter for a little over a month after he came back. The Blue Jays activated Jansen in mid-April and he slashed a .287/.371/.535 line over 116 plate appearances until the end of May.
Since the start of June, Jansen’s production at the plate has cratered. He’s slashed a .132/.231/.198 line over his last 104 plate appearances and his only home run was a solo shot against the San Francisco Giants. For the season, the backstop has a .214 batting average, a .680 on-base plus slugging percentage, and six home runs, numbers well below his norms from the past three seasons.
Given Jansen’s recent struggles and his top potential suitor falling out of the buyer’s market, it’s looking more like the catcher will remain a Blue Jay past the trade deadline. If the Blue Jays plan to compete in 2025, they’re better off signing Jansen, who knows their pitching staff, than they are moving him for a low-level prospect and looking for a replacement in free agency.

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