6 surprising players that could be traded if the Blue Jays are out of it at the deadline

OF Kevin Kiermaier

Already a fan favourite since his arrival in Toronto this year, Kevin Kiermaier has done everything that one could ask for. Signing only a one-year, $9 million contract with the Jays for the 2023 season, Kiermaier has definitely delivered beyond expectations that one could imagine. Hitting from the nine hole in the lineup, he has posted strong offensive numbers across the board for someone who had been mainly known for his defensive prowess. For the season, he is hitting .296, with an .839 OPS, to go along with 26 runs scored, four home runs, 16 RBI and five stolen bases. Not only that, he has committed only one error all season, to go along with 10 DRS already. Talk about getting it done on both sides of the field.

Kiermaier would definitely be a hot commodity at the trade deadline if he does become available from the Jays. His stellar defence, along with his surprising offensive outburst this year, added to his many years of experience in the big leagues makes him an ideal candidate for any contending team that wants to strengthen their outfield defence for the stretch run, along with getting some solid production at the plate. For teams that are stacked, Kiermaier would be the ideal fourth outfielder to cover for any of the starters, along with providing that extra speed and pinch hitting late in the game to help make a difference for the team. The Jays would probably want to hold onto Kiermaier at all costs, hopefully for the rest of the year and beyond. But if they believe his strong play has priced himself out of town by the end of the year, then anything could be on the table.

3B Matt Chapman

For Matt Chapman, one can call his 2023 season a “Tale of Two Worlds” thus far. He began the season like a man on a mission as he obliterated MLB pitching left and right, leading to the best start to a season in his career. In doing so, he captured both AL Player of the Week and AL Player of the Month honours in April, and led MLB in many hitting categories for a while. Then as the month of May came around, it appeared as though someone had kidnapped the blazing Chapman and turned him into the slumping Chapman. All of his hitting stats were practically almost half of what he produced in April, including batting average, OPS, hits, home runs, RBI, walks to name a few, reverting him more towards his career standards.

Nevertheless, if Chapman is offered up in a trade by the Jays at the deadline, there isn’t anyone that would think twice and would quickly snatch him up. Entering his prime at the age of 30, along with his Gold Glove play at third base, the power hitting Chapman would slot in perfectly in the middle of the lineup for any contending team. In addition, with the lack of quality third basemen available in the upcoming free agency at the conclusion of the season, Chapman would be highly sought after by many teams. So if they could get the early jump at the trade deadline to obtain his services, they could hope to entice him with a successful playoff run to stay with the team with a long-term contract afterwards.

UTIL Whit Merrifield

The year of 2023 has been a game changer for Whit Merrifield. Prior to this season, many believed that Merrifield was heading towards father time after he posted his career worst numbers with his former team the Kansas City Royals in 2022. Even after his trade to the Jays at the trade deadline last year, he wasn’t providing much production other than a sudden two-week outburst near the end of the season that helped propel the Jays to a playoff spot. In doing so, the Jays were willing to give Merrifield a chance to show himself this year by putting him into the role as a utility man, covering second base and the outfield when needed.

Not only has Merrifield flourished in that role so far in 2023, his solid play and contributions ensured that he was back being an everyday player for the team, as he appears rejuvenated and back to his All-Star form. For the season, Merrifield has a .300 batting average, .750 OPS, 29 runs scored, two home runs, 25 RBI and has been a threat on the basepaths with 16 stolen bases. With his speed and positional versatility, Merrifield will no doubt be an attractive trade target if he is made available at the deadline, while providing the Jays with some good assets in return. His potential huge impact could be similar to what former MLB player Ben Zobrist did when he joined the Kansas City Royals and Chicago Cubs, leading each of them to a World Series Championship and Zobrist getting MVP honours in doing so with the Cubs in 2016. But for that very same reason, it’s probably to the Jays’ best interest to do anything they can to retain him.

1B/DH Brandon Belt

Brandon Belt was signed by the Jays during the past offseason to a one-year deal worth $9.3 million to help bolster their offence from the left side, along with adding a veteran presence to the ballclub. Belt started off with an abysmal month of April with his new club, so bad that many people were calling to DFA and cut him from the team. He was striking out at an alarming rate, and had only 10 hits the entire month. However, when the month of May rolled around, the Belt people were expecting more of finally arrived. For that month, he hit .333 with a .940 OPS, with nine runs scored, one home run, seven RBI, 16 walks and 27 strikeouts.

Basically he went from scapegoat to hero in just a month’s time, showing that with his veteran experience, he had the ability to turn things around quickly. He has boosted the confidence of the team and the manager in believing in him from his play so much that he is now being used in the cleanup spot from time to time as well. As Belt has regained his stroke, he has definitely increased his stock if he is to be made available at the trade deadline. Being the savvy veteran that could still provide solid production, along with being a part of two successful World Series Championship teams back when he was with the San Francisco Giants, could just be what an inspiring, contending team would want to add to their squad to help lead them to the Holy Grail.

RHP Erik Swanson

Ever since coming over from the trade with the Seattle Mariners for Teoscar Hernández, Erik Swanson has been a welcome addition to the Jays bullpen for 2023. Much more of a somewhat unknown entity due to his few years of MLB experience prior to joining the Jays, he has certainly shown that he could get the job done so far in his short time with the ballclub. Of all of the current Jays relievers, Swanson has provided the most consistency and reliability coming out of the pen each time out. For the season, he is 2-2 with a 2.56 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, giving up only 14 hits, nine earned runs, 13 walks and 38 strikeouts over 30.2 innings pitched. He also has 16 holds on the year, bypassing his previous high of 14 set last year with the Mariners.

From his stellar performance, Swanson has basically passed everyone in the Jays’ bullpen depth chart other than Jordan Romano, and has now become the reliable setup man to team up with Romano to help finish off games (as well as even being the closer on days when Romano is unavailable, as seen recently). For someone as valuable as Swanson has been with the team, it will be hard to part with a key player like that at the deadline. He would definitely net a nice return from a contending team, as he would be highly pursued by many teams looking to strengthen their bullpen for the postseason run. But it would certainly sting the Jays’ faithful, because they definitely don’t want to lose their only prized return from the Hernández trade that easily.

RHP Yimi García

Back in the 2021/22 offseason, Yimi García signed a two-year, $11 million deal with the Jays to help bolster their bullpen depth. With his past experience in high leverage usage, he was expected to form a solid duo with Romano in the backend of the bullpen to close off games. For the 2022 season, García did exactly that, as he came as advertised, pitching to a 3.10 ERA, 1.049 WHIP, giving up only six home runs while walking 16 and striking out 58 over 61 innings pitched with 23 holds. The Jays appeared to be set with the same dominant duo for 2023, while they focused on upgrading other aspects in their pitching.

However, this season has been a completely different story for García. It has been a struggle for him since the start of the year and has yet to find his groove entering the third month of the season. In 29 games, he has given up 17 earned runs including four home runs already, to go along with nine walks and 33 strikeouts and two blown saves, leading to an ERA of 5.53 and a WHIP of 1.45. If he keeps this up, the surprise isn’t going to be that he will be available at the trade deadline; the surprise is if there will be any team that would even give up any asset(s) to obtain him if so. Anything coming back from a García trade, or perhaps even just letting García go, would be a win for the Jays, as he would be the perfect example of an addition by subtraction for the ballclub.

Hopefully, the Jays will remain in contention for the rest of the 2023 season so that they do not have to worry about losing potentially any of their key players mentioned above at the trade deadline, except maybe for García who at this point is expendable.