Blue Jays: Looking ahead to potential trade partners

We might not yet know the players that could be available to the Blue Jays at the trade deadline this summer, but we’re starting to get an idea of which teams might sell.

Of course, a lot could change before the trade deadline at the end of July, but now that we’re more than 50 games into the regular season teams are starting to show whether or not they’re going to be part of the playoff race this summer. We have to remember teams like the 2019 Washington Nationals that started 19-31 only to turn things around and eventually take home the World Series crown, however, those anomaly’s are few and far between though.

With that in mind, it’s probably time for teams like the Blue Jays to start paying attention to those that are falling out of the playoff race at this early stage. That list of teams could certainly expand in another month or so, but I’m sure there are already a handful of front offices preparing to sell in hopes of furthering their own rebuilding efforts.

The Blue Jays could have a few areas to address ahead of the stretch run, with a central focus on reinforcing the pitching staff. That could be in the rotation, bullpen, or both, and might be the area that Ross Atkins waits the longest to address. With the way that pitchers have dropped like flies for the Blue Jays so far this year, they may prefer to wait to see how many of their own arms are going to be healthy by mid-late summer before making those decisions.

Even then, there’s an argument for looking for upgrades at catcher and maybe at third base as well. The Blue Jays will have to improve their standing as better than the 4th place team in the AL east to justify being aggressive on the trade market, but they’re not far out of the race, and there is still plenty of time.

With that in mind, which teams might be ready to talk trade, and who might they have that could improve the Blue Jays?