3 recent trade partners the Blue Jays could deal with again at the deadline

It's all about building relationships. In order to make any deal happen, two General Managers and their front offices, have to find some common ground and work together to get a deal done. Some GM's like dealing with certain GM's more than others and that's why you will sometimes see several deals between the same two teams.

For the Toronto Blue Jays and GM Ross Atkins, the last two years have been busy on the trade front. From being a seller at last years deadline, to making trades to improve the team this past offseason, Atkins has grabbed talent from a myriad of clubs around the league.

With the Blue Jays in buy mode this season, lets take a look at the rosters of some recent trade partners and see if there is anything else the Blue Jays could potentially pluck away at, at this years deadline with their needs falling in the order of relief pitching, an additional bat and starting pitching.

3 recent trade partners the Blue Jays could deal with again at the deadline

Cleveland Guardians

Atkins has made more than a handful of deals with the Cleveland Guardians over the years. A couple of the most recent transactions have included receiving outfielder Myles Straw, and second baseman Andrés Giménez in separate deals this past winter.

With the Guardians sitting at 52-53 (entering Monday) they could still go either direction of being buyers or sellers, but with the news of Emmanuel Clase being part of a betting investigation, the Guardians may be about to hit the sell button.

Who would be the best fit on the Blue Jays: Jakob Junis, Steven Kwan

32-year-old reliever Jakob Junis is sporting a 124 ERA+ and has given up just three home runs in 43 innings pitched. He will be a free agent at the end of the season and would fit in well in a Blue Jays bullpen that has allowed 45 home runs this season - seventh most in the AL.

27-year-old left fielder Steven Kwan was listed as a trade target for several teams by ESPN earlier this month. Kwan could bring legitimate leadoff hitting skills to the top of the Blue Jays lineup. The left-handed hitting Kwan has a 3.3 bWAR slashing .285/.350/.411 with a 112 OPS+. He has more walks than strikeouts (39:37) and owns a whiff rate of 9.1, which is in the 100th percentile, and his chase rate of 22.3 is in the 83rd percentile.

St. Louis Cardinals

The Blue Jays and the Cardinals came together in 2023 on three separate occasions. First the Blue Jays made a move to get reliever Génesis Cabrera on July 21. On July 30 the Blue Jays sent Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein to St. Louis for reliever Jordan Hicks. Lastly, on August 1, Toronto got infielder Paul DeJong.

Those moves had varying degrees of success for Toronto who went on the make the playoffs while the Cardinals missed the postseason. This year the Cardinals (54-53) are in a similar position to the Guardians and could very soon be sellers.

Who would be the best fit on the Blue Jays: Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, Steven Matz

Similar to 2023, the Blue Jays could look to St. Louis to help bolster their bullpen. At the higher end there is Helsley who is currently the closer for the Cardinals. The 30-year-old has 41 strikeouts in 36 innings pitched, giving up just 12 earned runs in his 36 games. He'll be a free agent at the end of this season.

Another righty in the 'pen is Maton who will also be a free agent at the end of the season. The 32-year-old Maton is having one of the best seasons of his career, pitching to a 2.35 ERA with 40 games under his belt and 48 strikeouts in 38.1 innings pitched. He's allowed just one home run all season.

Last, but not least, former Blue Jays' starter Matz is reinventing himself as a solid reliever at age 34. The lefty has thrown 53 innings this season with 44 of those coming out of the bullpen. In those situations, Matz has a 3.68 ERA with 35 strikeouts. He hit a rough spot in the middle of June where he gave up eight earned runs over a string of five games, but he has settled back in and has allowed just one earned run over his last six innings pitched since June 8.

Seattle Mariners

From November 2022 to July 2024, the Blue Jays and the Mariners have made four trades. There was the deal that sent Teoscar Hernández west for Adam Macko and Erik Swanson. The Blue Jays also dealt Trent Thornton to Seattle in July 2023, while in July of 2024 the Blue Jays shipped off Yimi Garcia and Justin Turner in separate transactions.

Even though these two teams are both in the playoff race this season, it's entirely possible they come together to make a deal they can see helping both clubs at the big league level.

Who would be the best fit on the Blue Jays: Gabe Speier, Mitch Garver, Jorge Polanco.

The 30-year-old lefty Speier his having his best full season in the majors. He has 52 strikeouts in 38 innings pitched and has given up just four home runs with an 0.983 WHIP. He's another player that would deepen Toronto's bullpen and give them something they don't have an abundance of, which is left handed pitching out of the 'pen.

With Alejandro Kirk hitting the IL with a concussion, Toronto could be looking to deepen their catching depth, just in case they lose Kirk, or potentially Tyler Heineman, for the long term. Garver could end up being redundant on the Jays roster, but the Blue Jays made a move similar to this in 2023 when they acquired DeJong after Bo Bichette was hurt just prior to the deadline. Garver will hit free agency after the season so the Mariners could be looking to recoup something for him, although he does have a mutual option.

Polanco, also a free agent this offseason, would provide the kind of power production that the Blue Jays were hoping to get out of Anthony Santander. But with no real timeline for Santaders return of the IL - the Blue Jays could be looking to fill a primary DH spot with a switch hitter like Polanco.

At this rate the one area the team seems to be lacking is a true power threat and while Polanco has hit over 20 home runs just twice in his 12 year career - he has 16 already this season which equals his output in 2022 and 2024, while surpassing his output from 2023.

We're only a few days out from the trade deadline, the Blue Jays, who were expected to be active, could be looking to some old trade partners to shore up the holes in their roster.