Blue Jays: The American League teams most likely to come calling in trade talks

With several expiring contracts and already seemingly out of the playoff race, the Blue Jays will be a popular team to call among contenders at this year’s deadline.

Here I was feeling a little bad over the last couple days because I’ve been talking about the Blue Jays as trade sellers already. It’s not supposed to be that way already in the middle of June, but with the Blue Jays already 13 games out of the second Wild Card spot, and that team on pace for 102 wins, the odds are stacked very steeply against them. From having a look around the internet over the last couple of days, I’m clearly not the only baseball writer thinking this way, so I guess I’ll stop feeling bad about it.

With that in mind, I thought I would take a look at which teams could be targeting the Blue Jays at this year’s trade deadline, especially when it comes to their top expiring contracts like those that belong to J.A. Happ and Josh Donaldson. There are others like Curtis Granderson, Marco Estrada, Steve Pearce, Tyler Clippard and more, so there are no shortage of candidates to leave the organization in the next six or so weeks.

Donaldon’s bat will have appeal, and it’s possible that both Granderson and Pearce could serve as a cheap upgrade for someone, but it’s the pitching staff that will draw the most attention. Assuming he keeps on the way he has since coming back to the Blue Jays, Happ could be the best available starter on the market, and guys like Estrada and Clippard could be useful for the right team as well. If the Jays decide to start trading players beyond just the expiring contracts, then things take on a whole other level of interesting.

The real question is, who could be interested in the Blue Jays veterans, and what might they send back in return? I’m not gonna speculate on what the Blue Jays will receive in those trades, not just yet, but I’ll take a stab at which times could be picking up the phone to call Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins this summer. In today’s piece, I’ll have a look at the American League teams that could be calling, and tomorrow I’ll have a peak at the National League contenders.