Blue Jays: Predicting where the veterans get traded this summer

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TORONTO, ON – JUNE 19: Aaron Sanchez #41 of the Toronto Blue Jays delivers a pitch in the first inning during MLB game action against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Rogers Centre on June 19, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

Aaron Sanchez- St. Louis Cardinals

This one is really taking a shot in the dark for me, but hear me out why I think Aaron Sanchez with the Cardinals may actually make some sense.

First of all, tell me it wouldn’t feel like a Cardinal thing to do to acquire Sanchez and then watch him stay healthy and blossom in St. Louis? It happened with Chris Carpenter when the Blue Jays let him go in the late 90’s, and it seems like they’re a team that frequently finds a diamond in the rough. Once, Sanchez qualified as one of the most exciting young talents in the game, but right now he’s gotta be viewed as a pretty big wild card.

He’s currently 3-9 with a 5.49 ERA and a WHIP of 1.665 through his first 16 starts, but at least he’s managed to avoid the injured list. He has dealt with some blister and fingernail issues again this season, but thankfully he was able to avoid missing a start. Unfortunately, his production hasn’t been up to snuff, and I can’t help but wonder if that’s a contributing factor once again.

While I don’t think Sanchez will bring back much of a return, I feel like the Blue Jays are getting to the end of their rope with the 2016 AL ERA leader. Maybe the lack of a market will push them to keep him around until/if it improves, especially with their own need for arms in the rotation. If they do ship him out this summer though, St. Louis could make some sense as a landing spot.

They entered play last night just 1.0 game behind the second Wild Card spot, and 2.0 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central. They do have five healthy starters right now, but Sanchez’s numbers would represent an improvement from what Michael Wacha has done this season, believe it or not.

Sanchez’s bounce-back potential would be the selling point though, and for that the Cardinals wouldn’t likely have to pay that high of a price. Considering how familiar these two teams have been in dealing with each other over the last few years (Randal Grichuk, Aledmys Diaz), some of the homework could be done for the Blue Jays as well.

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