Five rental players the Blue Jays should consider trading for at the deadline

Josh Bell

While pitching may be the focal point of the Blue Jays heading into the trade deadline, if the front office is looking for a lefty-bat to compliment the right-handed heavy lineup, Washington Nationals switch hitter Josh Bell seems like a prime candidate to consider.

With Andrew Benintendi (Royals) unvaccinated and Ian Happ (Cubs) having another year of contract control, Bell looks to be the prime rental trade candidate, especially since the Nationals should be selling at the deadline this year. Bell has been mashing this year, owning a .305/.388/.496 slash line through 351 at-bats with a .883 OPS. He isn’t hitting the home run as much, as evident by his 13 home runs on the year, but he is putting the ball in play and taking walks as needed with 45 free passes on the year compared to 55 strikeouts.

The biggest question mark when it comes to trading for Bell is playing time, as he would surely cut into the playing time of other DH candidates like Alejandro Kirk and George Springer (when he’s not in centre).

He could form a platoon with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base and switch with the DH position as needed but this again keeps Kirk on the bench when he is not catching, which might not be the better option at this point considering how well he is hitting.