Blue Jays: Which AL contenders could come calling for a starting pitcher?

Oakland Athletics

The Oakland A’s and Toronto Blue Jays have been fairly frequent trade partners in recent years, and it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see it happen again.

Like the Angels, the A’s need to pull themselves back into the playoff race, but as their roster continues to get healthier that seems like a more realistic scenario. They started the season without Matt Olson because of a broken hamate bone, and have missed others like Khris Davis to the injured list as well, but they’re getting healthier and more dangerous.

Oakland has the most rotation depth of any of the teams I’ve mentioned so far, but the chance to upgrade with someone like Stroman could certainly be of interest. They’re also a third team that would need to be in playoff contention come late-July, as they’re currently 2.0 games out of the 2nd wild card spot as well.

They were serious contenders last year though and it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising to see them pull into one of the wild card spots. They’re already 11.0 games behind the Astros in the West division so that would be a tough hill to climb, but there is still plenty of season left, so that’s not impossible either.

Would the two clubs be able to link up on another trade? That may be a matter of need, but at the right price I could see the A’s investing in Stroman or Sanchez. We’ll see where they are in about six weeks time, and if their current depth is getting the job done.

Likelihood= 2/5