Blue Jays Trade Poll: Who Are You Willing to Part With?

Mar 1, 2015; Dunedin, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos watches during spring training workouts at

Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Blue Jays need help. They entered the 2015 season with high hopes of contending in the American League East. They have an offense that has been constructed to score runs. And, even with injuries and under performing, they lead MLB in runs scored. The rotation, though has been the reason they are middling their way through the season thus far. Previously, I highlighted the rotation as the reason the offensive prowess doesn’t matter. Scoring all the runs in the world doesn’t make a lick of difference if your rotation is allowing similar totals.

So, the Blue Jays will need to make a move if they are going to live up to the hype of a “win now” season. They can’t sit back and wait for health to return like they can with the offense. As our Jays’ Nest podcast co-host, Keegan Matheson, pointed out in our most recent episode, the offense will improve just by having the likes of Jose Bautista, Jose Reyes and Michael Saunders returning healthy. The same cannot be said for the rotation.

That is why the news of the Blue Jays scouting Johnny Cueto becomes so important. They need a guy like that. Whether it is Cole Hamels from the Phillies, Matt Garza from the Brewers, Scott Kazmir from the Athletics (as highlighted by Kyle Franzoni recently), or any other impact starter, the Blue Jays will have to pay dearly to upgrade their rotation. And, what’s worse is that they are not in a position of leverage to negotiate a steal from any of these other clubs. The Blue Jays need what they have. So, they’ll have to pay up.

The question is: What are the Blue Jays going to have to part with to land one of these (or any other) arms? So, I thought I’d put it to our readers. Pretend you are GM, Alex Anthopoulos and have to make the right call to pull off a deal. On the one hand, you have to think about the current commitment to winning. On the other, you have to think about winning in the future and can’t really deplete the farm system for a rental player that will likely test free agency soon after acquiring him.

So, here we go. I’ll present some options and you’ll have your chance to vote for the pieces (players) you’re comfortable parting with to land a starting pitcher.

Next: Which Position Players Would You Give Up In a Trade?