Blue Jays: Marco Estrada was claimed by Yankees or Orioles

It appears that the unknown team that had claimed Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marco Estrada earlier in the week was none other than their division rival Yankees or Orioles according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

The Blue Jays were unable to come to terms with the claiming team and Marco Estrada was pulled back off waivers. Estrada is set to become a free-agent at season’s end, however, has publicly stated his desire to remain north of the border with the Blue Jays.

Both the Yankees and Orioles are in the wild-card race and could have benefited from the services of Estrada especially seeing how the hurler has pitched of late. The change-up specialist has had a disappointing season heading into free agency but has salvaged some decent starts of late lowering his earned run average to 5.09.

The Blue Jays have shown some signs of life of late winning 7 of their last 10 before opening up their series at Wrigley Field with the Cubs where they have lost the first two games of the three-game series.

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The Jays definitely need Estrada in the fold if they are going to attempt a late run at sneaking into the postseason. With Aaron Sanchez shelved and the trade of Francisco Liriano, the Jays cannot afford to be without Estrada even if he is struggling.

The Jays surprisingly only sit 3.5 games back of the wild-card but they need to surpass the Orioles, Rays, Rangers, Mariners, and Royals to push their way into the postseason conversation.

Next: Blue Jays: Did Sanchez take a jab at Stroman on social media?

Regardless of who claimed Estrada whether it was a division rival or not, the hurler is here to stay and should in all likelihood finish the season as a Blue Jay. Can you imagine seeing Estrada in Yankee pinstripes? um…..no thanks.