5 Blue Jays most likely to be dealt at the trade deadline

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With the Toronto Blue Jays all prepared for some intense action to make some acquisitions at the trade deadline to address their needs going into the stretch run, there will be some assets that will be going the other way to complete the transactions. Some we may agree that it’s time to move on, whereas for others, it will hurt a bit to lose someone that could end up being valuable down the road.

Here, we take a look at five Blue Jays whose days may be numbered, as they will most likely be on the move by the trade deadline.

Santiago Espinal

For the case of Santiago Espinal, it is just unfortunate that he may be the victim of the numbers game, along with having one of his worst seasons in the majors so far in his professional baseball career. Coming off an All-Star season back in 2022, Espinal was expected to battle it out with Cavan Biggio and Whit Merrifield for the second base job for the 2023 season. Espinal appeared to have the upper hand going into the season, due to his stellar defence, along with his solid performance at the plate just a year ago, whereas both Biggio and Merrifield were hoping to find a groove and potentially get back their prior form from previous years to help contribute to the team as much as they can.

Well, now more than halfway through the season, Merrifield has definitely returned to his former All-Star form and has been a main contributor to the Jays’ offence for much of the year, securing his spot in the everyday lineup as a result. On the other hand, Espinal has struggled in a part-time role, hitting .230 with a .607 OPS, with 22 runs scored, only one home run and 13 RBI in 54 games played. Espinal has also been named by our own Eric Treuden, along with Ben Nicholson-Smith on Jays Talk Plus on Sportsnet as one of the current roster players that won’t survive the trade deadline.

With Espinal’s role on the team diminished quite significantly since last year, it makes the most sense to give him the opportunity to flourish once again on a new team, while recouping some valuable assets in return for a win-win situation for both parties.

Mitch White

Now, when it comes to Mitch White, many people’s first reaction would be “do you think the Jays could really get anything for White??” After all, he has struggled immensely ever since coming over from the Los Angeles Dodgers to join the Jays last year at the trade deadline. He was used mainly as a starter last year, but to disappointing results, going 0-5 and posting a gaudy 7.74 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, giving up 37 earned runs, 16 walks and 31 strikeouts over 43 innings of work. This year, as a reliever, it hasn’t gotten much better, as he is 0-1 with a 7.11 ERA, the same 1.74 WHIP, giving up 10 earned runs, seven walks and 13 strikeouts in just 12.2 innings pitched. His constant inability to get batters out has drawn the ire of the Jays’ fanbase, as many have expressed their frustrations in the process.

As a result, it is highly likely that the next transaction the Jays execute that requires a spot to open on the 40-man roster, White will be the likely candidate to be DFA’d. Most would believe that he will probably be just let go, but after seeing how the Jays managed to somehow recoup an asset by trading the recently-DFA’d Trent Thornton, anything could be possible on the trade market. After all, White was once upon a time a highly-regarded second-round draft pick in the Dodgers organization and was ranked as high as in their top five organizational prospects back in 2018.

Nevertheless, as tough as a pill the Jays may need to swallow after losing promising prospects in Nick Frasso and Moises Brito to the Dodgers for White, it may be time to move on and to try to get anything they can out of it if possible.

Otto Lopez

Moving into the prospects pool of the Jays’ organization, Otto Lopez has been identified by us, as well as the Athletic (subscription required) as a prime candidate for the Jays to use as a valuable trade chip at the deadline. Lopez is a versatile player that has the ability to play multiple positions in both the infield and outfield. He provided a glimpse of his ability to the Jays back in the season finale doubleheader last year, along with having a strong Spring Training camp and his showing representing Canada at the World Baseball Classic earlier this year.

However, he has struggled a bit with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons to start the 2023 season, but has picked it up lately in the past couple of months. For the year, Lopez sports a .251 batting average, with 45 runs scored, eight doubles, five triples, only two home runs, 31 RBI, 12 stolen bases, 22 walks and 55 strikeouts in 80 games played. But with the crowded logjam created in Jays’ infield and outfield as a result of both Biggio and Merrifield being able to cover both fields, along with the blockage by promising prospects Orelvis Martinez and Addison Barger at Buffalo, Lopez appears to be also a victim of the numbers game, and will probably have to bring his game to another MLB club in order to have a chance to crack the majors.

But given his positional flexibility and good contact skills, he will be a valuable trade chip that the Jays could use at the trade deadline to reel in a bigger fish that could help the team right now in their playoff run.

Spencer Horwitz

It may seem to be a common trend that’s starting to develop in Jays’ land, but Spencer Horwitz is another up and coming prospect in the Jays’ organization that has his path to the majors currently blocked by immovable players. With his primary position of play being first base, he is obviously being blocked by superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the major league level, along with Brandon Belt, who backs up Guerrero on days he is resting. Horwitz’s strength is his ability to hit, so even if he can’t get into the lineup at first base, he could potentially DH, but again, Belt is mainly occupying that spot as well.

Despite being held back in Buffalo, Horwitz has nevertheless produced a strong season with the bat, hitting at a .319 clip, with a .895 OPS, with 42 runs scored, 20 doubles, seven home runs, 53 RBI, six stolen bases, while maintaining close to a 1-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio for the entire season. He even recently grabbed Player of the Week honours, becoming the first Bisons player to achieve the feat this year. In addition, he did a fine job in his brief stint in the majors with the Jays earlier this year when they ran into some injury woes, pounding out two hits in eight at-bats, while scoring a run and driving one in.

However, seeing that the Jays haven’t gone back to him in recent callups (Ernie Clement, Nathan Lukes, Jordan Luplow to name a few) despite needing a solid bat this whole time certainly shows that Horwitz may not be that high up in the pecking order. In that case, being able to use him as an important trade chip in the coming days would do both the Jays and Horwitz justice in due time.

Yosver Zulueta

Although Yosver Zulueta’s name hasn’t been swirling around in current trade talks, there is a high chance he will be one of the Jays’ top prospects that will be moved at the trade deadline. As much as the Jays want to avoid their “untouchables” in Ricky Tiedemann, Brandon Barriera, Zulueta and Orelvis Martinez at all costs, in order to add big names that could be a difference maker for the ballclub down the stretch, the Jays will need to give up some value as well, or else the big trade will most likely not happen.

Tiedemann and Barriera both represent the next wave of strong starting pitching for the Jays’ organization, which as everyone knows, they currently lack big time. As a result, they shouldn’t be moved no matter what, otherwise, guess what, they will be trying to trade for more starting pitching help in the future, creating a bigger and bigger hole to fill in the end. Martinez represents the only MLB-ready power bat that the Jays have currently in their organization. With Matt Chapman potentially entering free agency at the end of the year, Martinez could be the ideal replacement for Chapman for both his position and his offensive output, so removing that option from the equation could spell trouble for the Jays, as it appears that the free agency pool of third baseman available this year will be horrendous.

That leaves Zulueta as the prime candidate of the four untouchable prospects to be moved in a high risk/gamble trade to acquire a strong contending puzzle piece for the ballclub. Despite having struggled with some control issues so far in 2023 with Buffalo, his enormous potential and firepower is quite evident. For 2023, he has a 2-3 record with a 4.73 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, with 39 walks and 51 strikeouts in 45.2 innings pitched. However, he has settled down nicely in the month of July, producing a 3.18 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in six appearances prior to Thursday’s game. It may hurt considerably down the road if he becomes another Aroldis Chapman or Josh Hader, but with the Jays currently in win-now mode, it may be the big sacrifice they need to do to have a chance to win it all this year.

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