Blue Jays: The Pros and Cons of trading for a Left-Handed Bat

The Toronto Blue Jays currently find themselves in the thick of the Wild Card as the schedule turns over into July. With the New York Yankees pulling away early and barring a monumental collapse, the Jays along with the rest of the American League will be jockeying for positions to try and make the playoffs

With July now in full swing, that means the trade deadline is quickly approaching, slated for August 2nd this summer. Last year the Jays started to make some deals around this time, acquiring Adam Cimber and Corey Dickerson from the Marlins and then trading for reliever Trevor Richards and prospect Bowden Francis from the Brewers shortly after.

Similar to 2021, the Jays find themselves needing some outside reinforcements, mostly with the bullpen. The club currently sports a collective 4.36 ERA from the relief corps and is battling various injuries and performance issues at the moment. It will also be interesting to see if the front office will pursue a starter given Hyun Jin Ryu’s injury and with Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi struggling in the rotation, although Kikuchi pitched well last night and hopefully that trend continues. The market is considerably thin for rentals but if the club is willing to pony up some funds, pitchers like Frankie Montas or Luis Castillo should be available.

Another area the Jays can explore is adding a left-handed bat to the roster, an area the Jays lack in the lineup, featuring Cavan Biggio, Raimel Tapia, Bradley Zimmer, and Zack Collins (when he’s around). Both Biggio and Tapia have been playing well as of late while Zimmer is used more as a defensive replacement, evident by his .109  average and .427 OPS.

This is one area where a few interesting names could be available from teams outside the playoff picture. Josh Bell (Nationals) and Andrew Benintendi (Royals) are two names that immediately stick out amongst the group and both would be a boost to a righty dominant Jays squad.