8 players who are entering their last month with the Blue Jays

There's no need to further beat around the bush: the 2024 Toronto Blue Jays are not a playoff-caliber club. As a matter of fact, the team - currently eight games under .500 - seems to be headed towards a sell-off at this year's trade deadline.

This is an extremely disappointing development for a club that has so much talent on paper. It's pretty unacceptable to see the product this organization is sending out on a nightly basis. Somehow, a team with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette leading the offense and Kevin Gausman and Jose Berrios on the pitching side of things has managed to start the year 41-49.

These Blue Jays are last in the American League East, four games under the fourth-place Rays and 16 games behind the first-place Orioles. The Blue Jays sport a -60 run differential, higher than only the 26-66 White Sox, 37-52 Angels and 34-58 Athletics.

So here we are, closing in on the All-Star Break and inching closer to the trade deadline. Entering the year, the Blue Jays were obvious candidates to buy at the deadline. Now? It's looking like pieces are going to be shipped out of town instead.

Management has said that their preference is to make one last run with the Guerrero-Bichette core in 2025, but the further they plummet, the less this plan makes any sense. Since a sudden turnaround next year doesn't seem likely to pan out, it'd make sense for the Blue Jays to consider moving players that have extra control beyond the current season. Moving players with additional control means they also have additional value, especially the likes of Guerrero, Bichette and multiple pitchers.

But let's get it out of the way: Guerrero is probably not going to be moved. He's expressed a willingness to stay in Toronto, while his fellow superstar infielder Bichette has ... well, not.

Today, we're going to run through this roster and determine which players are entering their final month on the Blue Jays. Guerrero is not going to make the cut, but it's also not going to be a list of pure rentals. There are a ton of pitchers making the list, but Trevor Richards, a pending free agent, was left off because, well, somebody needs to remain on the roster. He's on a miniscule contract and may not command the same return as some of the other names we'll get to shortly.

Change is coming to this organization, and hopefully it's not only going to be consisting of players you see on the field.