Report: Scouts to be watching Blue Jays’ Hutchison tonight

Jon Morosi is expecting some scouts in the stands when the Blue Jays face the Yankees on Wednesday night with Drew Hutchison on the mound

When the Blue Jays take on the New York Yankees this evening in spring training action, Drew Hutchison will be on the mound. With that, Jon Morosi expects to see some MLB scouts in the seats.

Appearing on the Dean Blundell show this morning on The Fa 590, Jon Morosi explained why he expects a high number of scouts to be monitoring the Blue Jays’ starter.

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“If you were going to showcase a pitcher, you’d have him pitch a night road game against the Yankees, which is precisely what Hutchison is going to do this evening.

“I have a strong sense that if the right offer came around for him (Toronto) would make a trade,” Morosi continued. “He’s still a good pitcher. This guy pitched opening day for the Blue Jays last year. But he doesn’t really fit right now and we haven’t really heard much about him in the fifth starter derby.”

I’d caution not to rush out and sell your Drew Hutchison jerseys, though. Scouts in the stands of an MLB game is traditionally a very overblown story. The Blue Jays are notorious for this, with their scouts outnumbering fans in some minor league stadiums (approximately).

Getting more specific, Morosi expects some west coast interest.

“The A’s have some serious pitching concerns. Jarrod Parker is out again and Rich Hill has had serious control issues in spring training. I think they have a pitching shortage. Even the Dodgers, with all their issues. It would not shock me at all if we see a scout from the A’s (at Hutchison’s start) and and a scout from the Dodgers there and certainly other teams around the industry.”

As you can see, there’s some hypothetical here.

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On an entirely surface level, dealing from starting pitching depth makes some kind of sense. Toronto currently has that in excess, but that’s for a reason. The organization has stockpiled that depth as insurance, so dealing a high-ceiling piece of it would require a legitimate return.

Selling low on Hutchison, last season’s opening day starter, seems counterintuitive. We’re talking an all-time low here in terms of his value.

Regardless, this is a situation to monitor, especially if Hutchison can perform tonight and pitching injuries continue to roll in around baseball.