ESPN analyst still sees Blue Jays adding at deadline with at least a dozen trade targets in their sights

As the MLB Trade Deadline gets closer, the Toronto Blue Jays feel like they keep slipping further away from a playoff spot. Going into their game on Monday night, (Jul. 6) in San Francisco against the Giants, the Blue Jays sit three games out of a Wild Card spot and 11.5 games behind the AL East leading Tampa Bay Rays.

But even that isn't enough to persuade ESPN analyst Jeff Passan from thinking the Blue Jays should be sellers at the deadline. Instead, in his latest Top 100 trade deadline candidates update, he still has the Blue Jays as a team that could be targeting over a dozen players when Aug. 3 rolls around.

This isn't to say that Passan believes the Blue Jays will be going after all of these players. What he's suggesting is that the Blue Jays currently make sense as a trade partner or potential landing spot if the Blue Jays are trying to make a real charge at a playoff spot. The problem is, it feels like the Blue Jays can't wait another month to make a move. If they are serious they need to do something sooner than later - but there are so many teams around them that are virtually in the same boat.

There are also a ton of different kinds of moves the Blue Jays could make and Passan has them tied to a bunch of guys who move the needle in varying degrees in their own ways. For starters he's got them linked to Tarik Skubal, Joe Ryan, Reid Detmers, Casey Mize, Robbie Ray, Freddy Peralta.

No offence to Ryan, Detmers, Mize, Ray and Peralta, but the cost for them won't be nearly as high as the cost for Skubal. And rightfully so as Skubal, even with the recent injury, represents the biggest game changer on the trade market and instantly makes any team he joins a playoff, or perhaps a World Series contender. The other five guys would all still look great in the Blue Jays' rotation, but it may come down to the cost and the priority. That's why the group of position players Passan has the Blue Jays linked to is so interesting.

Passan has pegged SS Jeremy Peña, SS CJ Abrams, 2B Luis Arraez, and 1B Wilson Contreras as potential targets. You could plug any of these guys into Toronto's lineup right now and they would almost automatically be an upgrade over more than half the players currently making up Toronto's order.

The problem is, it isn't really the guys on the edges the Blue Jays are worried about, it's their main cogs: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, Daulton Varsho and Alejandro Kirk. None of these guys (except for perhaps Contreras) would usurp any of those guys for playing time, even though they would have the numbers to back up that decision.

However, they are clearly the hottest bats on the trade market and if any of them are available, the Blue Jays could be inclined to spending more on upgrading the lineup than the rotation. But it's not just the rotation that Passan things the Blue Jays are going to target. He also has them linked to three relievers: Aroldis Chapman, Josh Hader, Jose Soriano.

These are three quality late inning arms and the Blue Jays bullpen would welcome any of these guys with open arms. It's also become a bit of a cliché for GM Ross Atkins to upgrade the bullpen at the deadline. Last year he added Louis Varland and Seranthony Dominguez. In 2023 he brought in Jordan Hicks and Génesis Cabrera.

But right now, that probably isn't the priority for the Blue Jays and again, it will really come down to the cost of these pitchers and how they can weigh that against what other holes they need to fill.

Blue Jays could also sell and still be in shape for 2027

The Blue Jays are in a bit of a unique position where a sell off at the 2026 deadline doesn't mean a write-off for 2027 as well. There are going to be a lot of core pieces still in place no matter what moves they make. The Blue Jays aren't trading Guerrero or Kirk. They'll likely hang on to Ernie Clement, Andrés Giménez, and Kazuma Okamoto, the MLB Rookie of the Month for June. They'll still have Dylan Cease and Trey Yesavage in the rotation and Louis Varland, Tyler Rogers and Braydon Fisher in the bullpen.

That also doesn't mention some of the prospects that have shown some promise this season as well as the guys coming off injuries that will be looking for fresh starts in '27 as well. The Blue Jays simply aren't putting together a promising campaign to this point in 2026, but it's not over yet, and it also doesn't have to spell any doom and gloom at all heading into the following year.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow