Two months ago, the Toronto Blue Jays’ trade deadline direction was especially unclear. There’s now no question: General manager Ross Atkins will be shopping for additions after a 10-game win streak vaulted the Jays into the American League East’s top spot.

With three weeks until July 31, the Jays’ holes are fairly obvious, with Atkins acknowledging needs for pitching and a right-handed bat for the lineup. To explore potential fits, I proposed four hypothetical Blue Jays trades to fill those holes, and former GM Jim Bowden weighed in on the crafted offers.

1. Blue Jays trade RHP Angel Bastardo and RHP Juaron Watts-Brown to Orioles for LHP Gregory Soto and OF Ramón Laureano

Ramón Laureano has an .844 OPS in 218 plate appearances this season. (Edward M. Pio Roda / Getty Images)

The Jays can fill two needs with this one trade, leaving the heavy deadline lifting for a starting pitching acquisition. Soto continues to rack up strikeouts and limit left-handed hitters, holding them to a .160 average this season. With Mason Fluharty’s recent demotion, the Jays could use another leverage southpaw and Soto has filled that role for three teams across the last five years. Laureano is a bright spot in Baltimore’s disappointing offence, mashing 10 homers while playing all three outfield positions. He has fairly neutral platoon splits, too, making Laureano the perfect right-handed depth option who can pinch hit and play in any situation.

For an Orioles team looking to return to contention in 2026, prospects close to the big leagues should entice. Three of Baltimore’s current starters are set for free agency, and a rising pitching prospect like Watts-Brown, up to Double-A, could compete for a rotation spot as early as next season.

Bastardo is likely a future reliever, working back from June 2024 Tommy John surgery. The 23-year-old may return later this season, but he’ll have to stick on an MLB roster as a Rule 5 draft selection. That could be hard on a Jays team pushing for October, but simpler for the retooling Orioles.

Bowden: I’m not sure Orioles GM Mike Elias would want to trade within the division and do the Blue Jays any favors at the deadline with his own job on the line, but with both Soto and Laureano being potential free agents after this season (Laureano has a $6.5 million team option for 2026), this is a deal he should at least consider. I’ll say this: If the Orioles could get Watts-Brown and Bastardo, even with the latter’s health risk, I would make the deal from their perspective.

From a Blue Jays standpoint, I like your idea of doing this deal so that they could then focus on their biggest need: a starting pitcher who can start a playoff game for them.

2. Blue Jays trade OF Alan Roden and LHP Adam Macko to Royals for RHP Seth Lugo

The batted-ball data doesn’t love Lugo, but he’s been quietly strong for a few years now. Since the start of 2023, the righty has a 3.11 ERA in 75 starts. He may not be an electric ace, but Lugo can start a postseason game for the Blue Jays and won’t be as expensive as controllable options like Sandy Alcantara and Mitch Keller.

Lugo, who’s thrown eight different pitches this year, is likely a rental with a 2026 player option he’s expected to decline this winter. The risk of that $15 million option (which could be realized due to injury) and the $4.8 million still owed to the righty after the deadline should help the deep-pocketed Jays find a deal.

Roden and Macko sit at the cusp of the big leagues, currently playing for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. Neither has skyrocketed their stock in early 2025, but both players were inside Toronto’s top 12 prospects before the season, per The Athletic’s Keith Law. If given the opportunity, Roden and Macko could become real MLB contributors this year. But the Jays are flush with upper-minors outfielders and rising pitchers and need another playoff hurler in 2025.

Bowden: I don’t like this trade from the Royals’ perspective. If they were to trade Lugo, I think they could acquire much better prospects than Roden and Macko from another team. There is not a huge inventory of starting pitchers available at this year’s trade deadline, which increases the value of someone like Lugo.

That said, if I were on the Blue Jays’ side of this trade, I would put on my best suit and call a press conference right now.

3. Blue Jays trade SS Arjun Nimmala and RHP Trey Yesavage to Twins for RHP Joe Ryan

Arjun Nimmala was ranked No. 37 in Keith Law’s latest top prospects list. (Brandon Sloter / Getty Images)

This is the biggest of swings. It would certainly be Toronto’s marquee move at the deadline and probably the highest-profile trade of the entire day. A move of this magnitude could clear the Jays’ prospect cupboards, but would return an obvious Game 1 playoff starter who could head the rotation for multiple years.

The 29-year-old Ryan has improved in each of the last two seasons, dropping his ERA to 2.76 in 2025 while striking out 10 batters per nine innings. He doesn’t walk many hitters and always possessed a tantalizing fastball, but this year Ryan has gone from underrated to ace. If the Twins want to sell high on the first-time All-Star as they drift out of contention in the AL Central, the Jays have a top-of-rotation need and upside youngsters to offer.

The return would be comparable to the top-prospect package the Jays traded to the Twins for José Berríos four deadlines ago. Nimmala and Yesavage hold similar rankings to Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson at the time of that trade, but this year’s pair is trending up. They both rest inside Law’s most recent top 50 MLB prospects ranking. Yesavage, especially, has jumped up industry lists and Toronto’s minor-league system this year, but with Ryan under team control for two seasons after 2025, it’ll take an eye-popping return. The Berríos deal worked out well for Toronto, so why not run it back.

Bowden: This is a trade idea that I love for both sides. The Blue Jays get a top-of-the-rotation starter who puts them in strong position as favorites to win the AL East, with a real chance of winning a world championship.

To get something, you have to give up something, and Nimmala and Yesavage represent the type of prospect package it would take to land Ryan. The Twins need to be in reboot mode; lowering their payroll and adding to their top prospect cabinet is the right play, especially considering the club is also for sale right now.

4. Blue Jays trade OF Jonatan Clase to Angels for LHP Reid Detmers

Detmers had a career 4.90 ERA in 75 starts entering this year before a move to the bullpen unlocked him. As of July 8, the lefty hadn’t allowed an earned run in his last 22 appearances and had a 32.2 percent whiff rate on the season. He’d be another late-game option to miss bats in big spots for Toronto. The southpaw has also pitched multiple innings eight times this season.

Building an offer for Detmers is difficult with the lefty’s remaining term. He’s arbitration-eligible through the 2028 season. But a prospect such as Clase, with all the tools to be an impact MLB outfielder, could entice. He owns a .604 OPS in 60 big-league games, but Clase has shown minor-league potential to hit for contact, break 20 homers and swipe well over 40 stolen bases. With plenty of other young outfielders on the 40-man roster, the Jays can afford to let another team take the upside bet on Clase.

Bowden: This is an interesting under-the-radar type of trade proposal. I think it’s a fair value for both sides.

Detmers has found his niche in the Angels’ bullpen, but I’m not sure how much Clase is going to hit in the big leagues; he might end up being just a fourth outfielder — and the Angels have enough of them. Los Angeles really doesn’t need another outfielder of his ilk, and with the team on the outskirts of the wild-card race, its front office is still trying to be buyers rather than sellers at the trade deadline.

(Top photo of Joe Ryan: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)