Blue Jays: Would management take on bad contracts to gain prospects?

Brett Cecil

Remember when Brett Cecil was the belle of the ball for free agent relief pitchers in 2016? Well, things haven’t really worked out so well for Brett since signing with the St Louis Cardinals.

His first season in 2017 was status quo for what we remember of Cecil when he played for the Blue Jays, pitching to a 3.88 ERA over 67 innings for the Cardinals. But then last year Brett battled injuries and posted a bloated 6.89 ERA over 32.2 innings pitched.

Cecil will make 7.5 million this season, and another seven next season, a high price for a recently ineffective relief pitcher. Add into the fact that he has not pitched a game this season for the Cardinals due to a left wrist surgery for carpal tunnel and numbness in his fingers, and he becomes a bit of a burden for a team trying to compete for the postseason.

It’s possible the Cardinals could look towards Toronto’s bullpen for help shoring up their pitchers for a pursuit of the postseason. I can’t think of many teams that would be willing to take on Cecil’s contract. But for the right prospects, and parts of his salary paid, I could see Blue Jays management willing to take a look to see if Pete Walker may be able to fix the issues that have been plaguing Brett since 2017.

The Cardinals seem intent on competing in 2019, so for them to keep up with the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers, then they will need to be creative in how they are able to acquire the talent to do so.