Blue Jays: Believe it or not, it’s time to talk about the trade deadline

With the trade deadline coming up on August 31st, it’s already time to start talking about if the Blue Jays should make any roster moves.

It feels like the MLB season just got underway, and yet the Blue Jays are already 25% of the way through their regular season schedule. They would be even further along had it not been for their cancelled series with the Philadelphia Phillies at the beginning of the month, like the Tampa Bay Rays who have already played a third of their schedule after 20 games.

Things move quickly in a shortened season, and on that note, it’s already time to talk about the trade deadline. That might seem awfully quick, but with the deadline looming on August 31st, there are only two and a half weeks to make some decisions.

Assuming there are no more delays to their season, the Blue Jays are scheduled to play 19 games in the next 18 days before the end of August. That’s a ton of baseball to fit into a short time frame, but the good news is it will allow the front office to have a bit more of an opportunity to evaluate their current roster. That could be relevant to their plans for both 2020, and looking ahead to the future.

As things stand right now, the Blue Jays are currently 6-9 and ranked 12th out of the 15 American League teams. While they are part of the AL/NL East division in terms of their schedule, their playoff future is determined by their standing among their fellow AL teams. There is an expanded playoff this year that will see eight teams make the post-season, but the Jays will have some work to do if they want to make an appearance.

That being said, even with plenty of missed opportunities and several games they could (should) have won, they’re still only 2.0 games back of the 7th and 8th place teams in the AL, who are tied at 10-9 and have four games in hand on the Blue Jays.

1. Oakland– 13-6
2. New York– 12-6
3. Minnesota– 12-7
4. Tampa Bay– 12-8
5. Baltimore– 10-7
6. Detroit– 9-7
7. Chicago–  10-9
8. Cleveland– 10-9
9. Texas–  8-9
10. Houston– 8-10
11. Kansas City– 8-11
12. Toronto– 6-9
13. Los Angeles– 7-12
14. Seattle– 7-13
15. Boston– 6-13

Does this mean the Blue Jays could actually be buyers at this year’s trade deadline? Depending on how the next two and a half weeks go, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. I don’t imagine that the Tigers or the Orioles are going to be able to hold on to their playoff spots, and the Jays should be able to leapfrog the Royals. On the other hand, you would think that the Red Sox, Angels, and even the Astros are bound to improve.

In a more likely scenario, I could see the Blue Jays selling a veteran or two whether they’re still in the playoff hunt or not. That will hinge on the health of their roster, and when trying to navigate a MLB season during a pandemic you can’t take anything for granted, but (knock on wood), they’ve been fairly healthy so far. In particular, they may have a surplus of starting pitching, and maybe even a veteran or two that could draw some interest on the trade market.

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Matt Shoemaker could be a candidate, especially because he’s due to be a free agent at the end of the year. While I think the relationship between the right-hander and the team has been a good one, it could be mutually beneficial to ship him to a contender later this month. The Blue Jays may be able to acquire another young asset or two, and also open up an opportunity in the rotation for someone like an Anthony Kay, or maybe even Ryan Borucki. For Shoemaker, pitching for a contender down the stretch and even into the playoffs could help him at the negotiating table this winter.

Secondly, the Blue Jays could decide to part ways with Chase Anderson even though he’s only thrown three innings for them so far. That’s not necessarily a reflection of Anderson, as he was dealing with some injury issues prior to the re-start of the season, but the Blue Jays suddenly have quite a bit of starting pitching depth. Unless the former Milwaukee Brewer performs really well for the remainder of this season, I don’t know that I would expect the front office to pick up his 9.5 million dollar option for 2020. If that’s the case (and for what it’s worth, that’s just my assumption), it may be prudent to see if there’s interest from another pitching-needy contender.

If Ken Giles was healthy and active right now it’s possible he could have been on this list, but I don’t think he’ll be going anywhere now, even if he can return ahead of the deadline. The only other move I can really see the Blue Jays exploring is one with an eye on the long-term, and with that type of situation, anything could happen. I’m talking about trading for a foundational piece, perhaps a long-coveted outfielder, or maybe even another starting pitcher. I don’t expect this scenario to play out, but I couldn’t write it off as impossible either.

As I mentioned about, the next 2.5 weeks will tell us a lot about the Blue Jays’ chances this year, and what that could lead them to do before the trade deadline. It might seem like it’s too early to think about it, but it’s coming quick.