Blue Jays Rumour Roundup: Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez

Recent reports from the winter meetings in Las Vegas indicate that the Blue Jays front office could be looking to trade pitchers Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez.

As the 2018 winter meetings in Las Vegas rage on, the Blue Jays aren’t expected to be particularly active in trades and signings this week. However, that doesn’t mean that the rumour mill will stop churning for fans of this team.

According to Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, the Blue Jays (and general manager Ross Atkins) could “envision scenarios where they get a compelling trade offer for Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez“. Nicholson-Smith further notes that the Blue Jays are “definitely listening” to offers for those two pitchers.

Stroman and Sanchez, both pitchers of a reasonably young age, have been puzzling to this team ever since joining the major-league squad. Though they’ve shown signs of brilliance, each has struggled with his own set of injuries and inconsistencies, effectively rendering them large question marks in the landscape of this team’s starting rotation.

Gregor Chisolm of MLB.com reported similarly, tweeting Monday that Atkins told reporters that teams have been talking about those players for “a long time”. Scott Mitchell of TSN added that the team isn’t “shopping” either pitcher at this point in the offseason. Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun also reported the same.

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Previously, the Cincinnati Reds were notably rumoured to be connected to Stroman, while no teams have been named in any concrete rumours involving Aaron Sanchez. This is the first time that Sanchez’s name has been brought up in genuine potential trade rumours.

This season, Sanchez, 26, pitched to an ERA of 4.89 in 105.0 frames, striking out 86 and walking 58, finishing up with a record of 4-6 and carrying a WHIP of 1.562. In just over 450 career major league innings, his ERA is 3.44.

Stroman, 27, pitched to an awful 5.54 ERA this season in 102.1 frames. Though his career ERA is a reasonable 3.91, he’s only pitched 665.0 innings in parts of five seasons with the big club. Additionally, his career WHIP currently sits at a pedestrian 1.287.

At this point, it doesn’t seem likely that the Blue Jays will trade either Stroman or Sanchez, though Atkins’ recent comments do show that the team is at least listening, something they haven’t been known to do with regards to these two players, at least, until now.

With Stroman and Sanchez under team control for just two more seasons each, now might be the time to see what they’re made of, whether it be by having one final season in the big leagues or by testing their value on the trade market. More to come as this development becomes more detailed.