Blue Jays Rumors: Toronto and Kansas City lining up as potential trade partners

As the trade rumor mill starts to heat up, and the Toronto Blue Jays continue to stay hot, they will remain linked to potentially available players around the league. The gap is starting to widen between the contenders and the pretenders and the Blue Jays are in clear buying mode at this stage of the game, while the Kansas City Royals are falling further behind the pack.

It's been a weird season for the Royals who are 48-52, 11 games behind the division leading Detroit Tigers and five games back in the Wild Card hunt. While their pitching has been excellent, they haven't gotten enough out of their lineup to stay consistently above .500. They were 8 games above on Friday, May 9, when they were 24-16. Since then, they have gone 24-36 and a couple of free agent pitchers have been mentioned as guys the Royals are more and more inclined to part with come July 31.

Blue Jays Rumor's: Toronto and Kansas City lining up as potential trade partners

Those pitchers are 35-year-old Seth Lugo and 27-year-old Kris Bubic, both of whom are having fantastic seasons and would be an upgrade to any rotation. According to Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan, both of these guys are ranked on their top 50 trade deadline candidates, with Toronto being a possible landing spot.

Thier analysis of Lugo is, "Lugo has posted mid-3.00s or lower ERAs for five seasons despite having below-average fastball velocity and good-not-great strikeout rates. His ability to strand runners and limit hard contact comes in part thanks to his nine different pitches. With a Nathan Eovaldi-type contract awaiting Lugo in free agency, Kansas City could opt to move him, especially if Cole Ragans' injured shoulder doesn't improve."

While their analysis of Bubic reads, "With Lugo set to hit free agency and Ragans still on the shelf, the Royals would need to be bowled over to consider moving their All-Star left-hander. At the same time, with the pitching market thin, they understand that the sort of haul Bubic could bring is at least worth engaging on. With a 2.48 ERA and another year of club control, his value is sky-high, and he's a legitimate solution for teams seeking a front-of-the-rotation starter."

Yes, both players will likely be costly but the Royals aren't entering a rebuild and will be looking for near-ready position player prospects in either of these deals. The Blue Jays don't have an abundance of those guys, but they do have a few who Kansas City might be willing to take a chance on, if they feel they can't resign either Lugo or Bubic.

The prospects could be among Toronto's top 30 with names like; Orelvis Martinez, Josh Kasevich, Charles McAdoo, or Yohendrick Pinango. Giving up a top 30 prospect for a rental is always a gamble but either of these guys would be worth it to give Toronto's rotation an extra weapon down the stretch. It also means if KC are more interested in position players, the Blue Jays can hang on to what seems to be their real gems in their system and protect their pitching prospects.