Blue Jays rumours: Drew Storen on the trading block

The Blue Jays reliever is 0-2 with a 7.80 ERA in 2016

The Toronto Blue Jays have made relief pitcher Drew Storen available in trades, according to this report from Bob Elliot of the Toronto Sun.

“Scouts from the Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants were watching the Jays-Twins series,” Elliot added.

It’s a difficult situation for the Blue Jays and Storen, who was traded north of the border in exchange for Ben Revere in early January. Finding peak value for an asset in late May can be difficult without the leverage of a trade deadline, especially when that asset is in the middle of his worst career as a professional.

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Storen has pitched just 15 innings this season, but allowed 13 earned runs (7.80 ERA) and four home runs. With his velocity dipping, the 28-year-old has struggled to get by with the same pitches that were untouchable at times in Washington.

The second hurdle in Storen’s salary of $8.375 million this season. He’s due to hit free agency for the first time in the fall, but unloading an underperforming and expensive asset is a tall task for the Blue Jays.

Toronto’s bullpen remains an area of worry, so subtracting Storen and his talent (which still exists and still holds potential in 2016) would likely need to be accompanied by another move. Could the Blue Jays eat some part of Storen’s salary to unload the rest in exchange for a small return, then use their net financial gain to chase another arm (or two)?

As you can see, a situation like this has a lot of moving parts and unideal factors. If Drew Storen rounds the corner this week and begins to find his form, does that solidify his spot in Toronto or just increase his trade value?

We’ll have updates on this story as it unfolds.