Toronto Blue Jays: Which players should be on the trade market?
If the Toronto Blue Jays want to get back into a competitive position going forward, they should look to acquiring assets on the trade market.
The path looks to be getting clearer for the Toronto Blue Jays as they prepare for the trade deadline and like last season, expect the team to be in selling mode.
Looking at what the team was able to accomplish last season, there is a strong argument to be made for taking a step back once again and unload players on expiring deals but maybe in a more aggressive manner this time around.
On July 31st the team only made two deals with Joe Smith going to the Cleveland Indians and Francisco Liriano winning a World Series with the Houston Astros.
The return for Smith wasn’t one that was thought to move the needle at the time but slowly but it could end up being one that can pan out moving forward. Thomas Pannone had an impressive season in the minors going 9-3 with a 2,36 ERA, 146 strikeouts over 144.2 innings which helped him become a top 30 prospect in the Blue Jays system.
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Unfortunately, the left-hander was suspended for 80 games before the season started for violating the MLB drug program, That might set him back in his development but if he’s able to get back on track then he will be an intriguing player to watch.
Liriano’s trade was a promising one with Teoscar Hernandez coming back the other way and the Blue Jays got a good look at what the future holds for Hernadez.
This should be the motivation for the front office to be on the phones and according to recent reports, the trades might be coming earlier than in past years.
Atkins said on @FAN590 that the “the (trade) market is definitely moving a little bit sooner this year.” With seven weeks left #BlueJays haven't finalized deadline path of course. In general, they want to understand "what all the opportunities are,” per Atkins.
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) June 11, 2018
Here is a list of players that will likely be on the market ahead of the July 31st deadline.