Blue Jays already holding auditions for 2019

We have yet to hit the mid-summer All-Star break, however, the Toronto Blue Jays appear to already have their sights set on 2019 and beyond.

The Blue Jays are on the cusp of a fire sale that could commence any day now having recently shipped soon to be free agent Steve Pearce to the Boston Red Sox for a minor leaguer. Blue Jays manager reiterated yesterday that he intends on playing rookie Lourdes Gurriel Jr. regularly between shortstop and second base. The skipper even mentioned moving shortstop Aledmys Diaz to third base on days where Gurriel draws in at short.

The International free agent signing is hitting .225/.244/.388 with four homers and 11 runs batted in throughout 23 games this season. The 24-year old has shown versatility on defence and looks like he could stick at shortstop in the majors. If Gurriel can prove that he can consistently hit major league pitching, he could surpass either Diaz or Devon Travis on the infield depth chart in 2019.

Along with Gurriel, the Blue Jays will have a long look at pitcher Ryan Borucki in the coming weeks to get a better idea where he could potentially slot into the rotation pecking order next season. The young hurler has looked impressive in his first two MLB starts and is currently penciled into the rotation for next year.

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With J.A. Happ, Marco Estrada and Jaime Garcia all expected to hit free agency the Jays will require some viable arms to compliment Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez in 2019. Borucki has surrendered just four runs while fanning 11 in his two starts on the bump. The 24-year old looks to have the mental makeup and arsenal to be an effective middle of the rotation starter moving forward.

As the season progresses and roster spots become vacant due to trades, look for additional minor leaguers to get the casting call for 2019. We could potentially see the likes of Sean Reid-Foley, T.J. Zeuch, Jon Harris, Danny Jansen and Anthony Alford in the coming months at the big league level for their 2019 audition.

Next: Blue Jays’ J.A. Happ at the top of Yankees wish list

The rebuild is here whether we like it or not as this current Jays cast proven they can not consistently compete with the big dogs in the AL East.