Blue Jays trades coming down to the wire as Liriano’s value climbs

The Toronto Blue Jays continue to jockey with prospective trade partners as the July 31st trade deadline comes down to the wire.

Rumors have spiraled around the likes of Francisco Liriano, Marco Estrada, and Joe Smith for the past couple of weeks, however, nothing has come to fruition with the trade deadline a mere 33 hours away.

Either the Blue Jays brain trust is attempting to pull off a multi-players transaction or they are waiting for the supply and demand to tip in their favor remains to be seen. All we can report is the trade front has been quiet in Blue Jays land while other teams retool for the postseason and future respectively.

One trade chip had another impressive performance on the mound yesterday as Franciso Liriano has now spun three impressive starts in a row where he has allowed 3 runs or less. Good news for the Jays who have been attempting to move the pending free agent before the deadline.

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The Royals have been one team linked to both Liriano and Estrada while the Cubs and Brewers could also be a fit for either of the hurlers. The Jays may be better served packaging both starters together in an attempt to get a better return.

The Jays could also look to move slugger Jose Bautista if he agrees to waive his 10/5 rights or the likes of Steve Pearce and Kendrys Morales if the return is of subsequent value.

Jon Heyman of Fan Rag Sports reported yesterday that the Blue Jays would listen to offers on J.A. Happ who has a year of control remaining on his team friendly deal. You have to figure the Jays would need to be blown away to move Happ seeing they will already be down two starters going into 2018. On the flip side, Happ would net you a much better return than that of Liriano and Estrada.

Next: Blue Jays reward fans with increased ticket prices in 2018

It should be an interesting day or so as the Jays hone their team for 2018, let’s see what Shapiro and Atkins can pull out of their hat before it’s all said and done.