4 perfect trade partners that could help transform the Blue Jays

Colorado Rockies

There's perhaps no team more motivated to sell than Colorado. The Rockies were undoubtedly the worst team in the National League last season, and there isn't anything to suggest that that'll be changing anytime soon.

Despite how bad the roster looks, there are interesting pieces. The first one that jumps out is Nolan Jones. In his first year as a Rockie, he burst through the scene with 20 home runs and a 4.3 bWAR in just 106 games. His value would be really high given his pre-arb status, and it's not a given that Colorado would even want to trade him at this time, but it's definitely worth a call from Atkins' perspective.

A trade for Jones at this time would mean that at minimum, a top-10 prospect would have to come off the board. Though it's possible the Blue Jays could get away with a trade while keeping Tiedemann and at least two of Martinez/Barreira/Nimmala. Guys like Leo Jimenez, Alan Roden and Landen Maroudis would be feasible trading chips still within the top-10 prospect pool, that fit Colorado's timeline a bit better.

Ryan McMahon serves as another interesting option at a lower cost, as he would be a terrific defensive replacement for Matt Chapman. While his standard offensive stats are concerning as he's never reached a 100 OPS+ in his career, his peripherals prove that he can be a solid power addition if he can cut down his strikeout problems.

Getting relief pitcher Daniel Bard wouldn't be a terrible move, either, but it carries risk as he comes off arguably the worst year of his career with concerning command issues. The upside would be hoping he gets back to anywhere near his 2022 form (where he finished 16th in NL MVP voting), and his deal expires after 2024, meaning he could be a throw-in to a trade for Jones or McMahon at likely no extra cost prospect-wise.