The Toronto Blue Jays are in danger of falling completely out of contention in the American League Wild Card race, meaning they could be sellers at the MLB Trade Deadline, and although Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette are big names that people would guess could get moved, that does not appear to be the plan, at least as of right now.
“The Blue Jays, whose season is already on the bring, plan to place starter Yusei Kikuchi, catcher Danny Jansen, reliever Yimi Garcia, DH Justin Turner and outfielder Kevin Kiermaier on the trade block,” Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. “Yet, they still want to make one last run with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. They should be staying until at least this winter, if not next summer.”
It is interesting to see that the Blue Jays want to hold onto Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, as if the franchise decides to start a full rebuild, those two are likely the players that they could get the best value back fr. However, trading those two players would be a big step, as the franchise has planned on contending with that group of players for the past several years. This past offseason, the Blue Jays went hunting for big fish as well, as they were in the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes, and were rumored as a team interested in trading for Juan Soto as well.
Ultimately, the Blue Jays did not make any big moves after missing out on Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto to the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. Now, they might be forced to sell off some pieces to try to make one more run with this core next year. Guerrero has one more year of arbitration before becoming a free agent, while Bichette has two years left on his contract before becoming a free agent.
Can the Blue Jays get good value at the deadline?
Nightengale listed the players who are most likely to get traded by the Blue Jays at this deadline, and they could get some decent value for them.
Yusei Kikuchi is not having a dominant season by any means, but he is still an experienced pitcher who could be a back end starter or long man in the bullpen. He is also a free agent at the end of the season, so it would make a lot of sense to trade him. Justin Turner and Kevin Kiermaier are on one-year deals as well, and could be solid depth pieces for contenders.
Danny Jansen could be a good addition for a team that needs a catcher, and he is having a solid offensive season as well.
As far as bullpen pieces, Yimi Garcia was mentioned by Nightengale, and Jordan Romano, who is dealing with elbow discomfort, could be a name as well if he is healthy.
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