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

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.