The Blue Jays took a 3-1 series opener over the Cardinals tonight. That combined with another Cleveland loss moved them within 4.5 games of the AL\u2019s final Wild Card spot. They\u2019d need to surpass six teams and are still eight games under .500, however, so a deadline sale seems prudent.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s likely to be the case for the team\u2019s notable impending free agents, though it seems the Jays are keeping an open mind to adding as well. Mitch Bannon of The Athletic<\/a> reports that Toronto has had conversations about acquiring a noteworthy player who is controllable beyond this season. That\u2019d be in addition to trades of rentals like Kevin Gausman<\/a>,\u00a0Daulton Varsho<\/a> and\u00a0Shane Bieber<\/a> \u2014 all of whom the Jays are expected to move, Bannon writes.<\/p>\n There\u2019s merit for the Jays in exploring buy-side concepts for controllable pieces. They\u2019re certainly not about to kick off a rebuild. They have\u00a0George Springer<\/a>, Yimi Garc\u00eda<\/a>, Myles Straw<\/a> and\u00a0Max Scherzer<\/a> coming off the books in addition to the aforementioned trio of rentals. Those players are combining for nearly $90MM in salaries. They\u2019ll probably trade or non-tender\u00a0Jes\u00fas S\u00e1nchez<\/a>, who is making close to $7MM in arbitration this year. Relievers\u00a0Tyler Rogers<\/a> and\u00a0Jeff Hoffman<\/a> are on eight-figure salaries and not completely unavailable in trade conversations.<\/p>\n That affords Toronto ample financial flexibility as they look ahead to 2027. The upcoming free agent class after\u00a0Tarik Skubal<\/a> is the weakest in recent memory. They\u2019re going to need multiple starting pitchers to slot behind\u00a0Dylan Cease<\/a> and\u00a0Trey Yesavage<\/a>. The long-term outfield picture isn\u2019t great. Some of that could be solved by re-signing their own players, but they\u2019re going to need some changes to a roster that has underperformed this season.<\/p>\n The Jays could poke around for a controllable starter like\u00a0Reid Detmers<\/a> or\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Soriano<\/a>. There\u2019s a non-zero chance<\/a> the Reds trade\u00a0Hunter Greene<\/a>. The Jays wouldn\u2019t be the favorite for any of those players even if they are moved, but it\u2019s understandable for them to kick the tires. There are fewer obvious possibilities in the outfield, assuming the Giants stick to their plan of holding\u00a0Jung Hoo Lee<\/a>, but they could look to a team with an outfield surplus (e.g. Twins, Nationals) to see if there\u2019s a match on a role player like\u00a0Trevor Larnach<\/a> or\u00a0Jacob Young<\/a>.<\/p>\n As for the rentals, they\u2019re all surely aware of the possibility they\u2019ll be moved. Gausman said this afternoon that there haven\u2019t been<\/a> any extension conversations. He hasn\u2019t pitched particularly well lately but has an excellent track record and still boasts strong stuff. There\u2019ll be ample interest from contenders. Varsho is the best rental center fielder available even in a slightly down season.<\/p>\n Bieber is a trickier evaluation. The former Cy Young winner missed the first few months working back from elbow inflammation. He was shelled in two of his first three appearances, pitched very well over three starts around the All-Star Break, then had arguably the worst outing of his career on Tuesday. Bieber walked six Nationals hitters without escaping the first inning in what might be his final start as a Blue Jay. He said postgame he was having difficulty finding his grip on the ball.<\/p>\n That leaves Bieber with a 5.74 ERA and an ugly strikeout and walk profile over seven starts. He\u2019ll be owed roughly $4.73MM after the deadline on his $16MM salary. It\u2019s unclear how robust the interest will be, but Russell Dorsey of Yahoo! Sports<\/a> reports that the White Sox are among the teams looking at him. The Sox are taking a broad approach to finding a starter to slot alongside Sean Burke<\/a> and Davis Martin<\/a> in a potential playoff rotation. They\u2019ve also been tied to Detmers and Clay Holmes<\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Blue Jays took a 3-1 series opener over the Cardinals tonight. 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