3 Blue Jays players who won't survive the trade deadline

INF Santiago Espinal

A month or so ago, Cavan Biggio was the obvious choice to round out the trio here. However, he has done just enough to stick around on the roster and honestly seems to be more valuable than Santiago Espinal at this point.

For Espinal, the 2023 campaign has been a bit of a fall from grace for him. The 2022 All-Star rode an impressive first-half performance last year to the Midsummer Classic and did plenty to force his name into the spotlight. However, he fell off in a big way in the second half and has continued to slump offensively this year. While he carries value in his versatile glove, it has felt much more like he's a benchwarmer than an actual asset to this club this season.

In 47 games this year, the 28-year-old has one home run with 12 RBI, a .228 average and an OPS+ of just 74. He's never going to be much of a power hitter, but the 113 OPS+ he had in 2021 and 100 he had last year did just enough to give Blue Jays fans hope that he'd be at least a league-average bat.

On defense, Espinal continues to be a serviceable player who can line up at second, third or short on any given day. However, with the emergence of a player like Davis Schneider or Orelvis Martinez down in the high minors, it's worth wondering whether the Jays could swap Espinal out for a hitter with some thump like one of those two.

Since Espinal's been such a scarcely used asset for the Blue Jays, he is one that could certainly be dangled in trade talks. He is not going to be a headliner in a deal for a pitcher, but what he brings to the table is sure to be of value to some clubs around the league, so don't be shocked if he goes the other way in a deal for a pitcher at the deadline.