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.

Bo Bichette

Call it bold, call it stupid, call it what you will, but it feels like Bichette's time on the Blue Jays is gradually coming to a close.

We're in year six now of the Bichette Experience and it's mostly all been positive. He's led the American League in hits twice, finished top-20 in AL MVP voting three times and sports a career OPS+ of 120, which is nothing to scoff at.

In his first 76 games of this year, though, he's looked like a different player. The 26-year-old is posting career-lows in essentially every single category. He's hitting just .226 with an OBP of .280, a SLG of .327 and an OPS all the way down to .606. His OPS+ sits at 72, which means his production is 28 percent below league-average this year.

The trade value Bichette loses with his offensive showing this year is somewhat (but not fully) made up by the fact that he's still got another year of team control beyond the current one. He's a legit superstar-caliber talent, regardless of what the numbers say, and teams know that.

Most pitchers on this list would fit on virtually any contending team looking for either starting or relief help. Bichette, however, is in a league of his own when it comes to potential suitors. There just aren't that many teams out there looking for a top-shelf shortstop. The Dodgers and Braves, who are currently trotting out the likes of Miguel Rojas and Orlando Arcia, both feel like teams that both have a need and have the immediate reinforcements available to send to Toronto in a potential swap.

Yimi Garcia

Injuries have struck Garcia down in what has been the best full season of his career to this point. The right-hander has experience in a variety of different relief-pitching roles over the course of his career, but he's really settled in as a high-leverage option that's more than capable of closing out games.

Garcia, 33, is a rental player who will be targeted by a plethora of teams hoping to contend for a playoff spot. He's made 27 appearances for the Blue Jays this year and has a smooth 2.57 ERA and equally impressive 2.88 FIP, as well as an ERA+ of 159. He notched five saves while Jordan Romano was on the shelf and has dramatically improved his K/9 and dramatically lowered his H/9 from 9.1 last year to 4.8 in the current campaign.

Despite the fact that he's a rental, Garcia is going to require a decent haul at the deadline. He can, and likely will, easily land the Jays a decent prospect or two in any moves made. His three-year tenure in Toronto hasn't always been smooth sailing, but he's really solidified himself as a dependable reliever that can always be counted on. He's good as gone.

Chad Green

Speaking of dependable relievers, Green is another player that should already be packing his bags. The 33-year-old is 23 games into his 2024 season and has a sparkling 1.57 ERA while, like Garcia, functioning in multiple different roles.

Green, a nine-year big league veteran, has four saves this year (his career-high is six, he's never been a full-time closer) but he's been one of John Schneider's most trustworthy ninth-inning options. He can come into a game in the third inning for two innings, he can shut down a budding rally in the seventh and is also capable of closing the door in the ninth. He's a pitcher every single team would be lucky to have.

Thanks to a funky contract he signed prior to last season, Green is under control for another year beyond the current one. Again, a team like the Dodgers could use someone like him and could potentially even look to pair him with the likes of Bassitt or Bichette in a potential deal.

Danny Jansen

It's been a weird year for Jansen, who at one point looked to be one of the best power-hitting backstops in all of baseball. He has significantly regressed since a red-hot month of May (three home runs, 11 RBI, .871 OPS in 21 games) and is now sporing a line that's five percent below league-average.

Nonetheless, he's still got a ton of pop in his bat, even though the fact that he has only five home runs does not immediately suggest it. Last year, he hit 17 home runs in just 86 games. The year before? 15 in 72. When he gets on one of his annual tears, he finds a way to get on base in every way you can imagine.

Despite the fact that he's going through a cold streak at the plate, there are some promising signs under the hood that Jansen still has hope. For starters, he's striking out 17.1% of the time, which is the lowest rate he's had in his entire seven-year career.

He's also walking quite a bit, too. Jansen's BB% is at 10.6, which is the highest he has had since his 43-game showing in 2020. He's hitting a ton of line drives, keeping the ball off the ground as much as possible and still finding ways to get on base. Not to mention he's also been worth 0.4 dWAR behind the plate and ranks in the 100th percentile in Blocks Above Average.

There are a handful of teams eyeing contention that could use some help behind the plate. The Cubs and Guardians have felt like strong fits for Jansen all year long and the Phillies could fit into the conversation too since J.T. Realmuto is currently on the injured list. What's nice about Jansen is that he'd happily split time between catcher and designated hitter, so his bat - should it get hot - can be put into the lineup in multiple different ways for any club looking to acquire his services.

Kevin Kiermaier

This is where things get tricky for the Blue Jays. While this list is going in alphabetical order, Kiermaier would find himself way at the bottom of the list if this were a ranking purely based off of stats.

Kiermaier, 34, is in the midst of what's easily his worst offensive season to date. This has been especially frustrating for Blue Jays fans, as just last year he broke out and had his best offensive season in many, many years. He's always been one of the best defensive center fielders the game has to offer, but the bat in 2023 was a sight for sore eyes.

All of that has gone out the window this year, minus the dazzling defense, of course. The 12-year veteran is hitting just .187 with a .522 OPS and 48 OPS+ through 68 games so far in the current campaign. He's rarely ever hitting anything other than a single, he's barely stealing bases and he certainly is not drawing walks. As a matter of fact, his walk percentage is down to 4.4%, which is the lowest he's ever had. Not a good look.

However, the aforementioned defense is surely going to be enough to warrant a double take from contending clubs. Kiermaier is arguably the very best defender in center field in all of baseball. This means he provides value in other ways than strictly offensive.

Baseball Reference has him worth 0.9 dWAR while Baseball Savant has him in the 96th percentile in Outs Above Average and 97th in Arm Strength. His Defensive Runs Saved per FanGraphs is at 8, which is tied for fifth amongst outfielders (min. 100 innings). That's a pretty damn good outfielder, if you ask me.

Kiermaier does not need to be any more than a defender for any team trading for him. His value is not zero but it's not off the charts either, so the Blue Jays need to flip him for whatever they can get at the deadline, even if it's some low-risk relief pitching prospect. The pending free agent and his expensive one-year deal will not be the Blue Jays' problem for much longer regardless of how this shakes out.

Yusei Kikuchi

It's been an up-and-down season for Kikuchi, but the fact remains that there are a lot of teams looking for starting pitching. The Brewers and Guardians are two playoff hopefuls that need starters in the worst way, for example.

Kikuchi, 33, has made 18 starts so far in 2024 and he has surrendered four or more earned runs in six times, including four of his last seven outings. He, like Bassitt, has been a decent innings eater who never gets hurt, so teams will look for that reliability when assessing trade targets at the deadline.

The turnaround for Kikuchi has been great, as he was one of the worst starters in baseball in 2022. Last year, he rebounded with an 11-6 record, 3.86 ERA and 111 ERA+ in a full year of 32 starts. This year, he's got a 4.12 ERA with a lower ERA+ but also a lower FIP. He continues to be right around league-average while lowering his walk rate a bit, too.

Again, the left-hander is a rental piece whose main ability is durability. He's not putting up numbers that will blow you away, but he's going to be a sought after piece at the deadline for sure.

Justin Turner

Turner is the game's oldest position player and at times has played like it. He has appeared in 75 games so far and has an OPS of .720 and an OPS+ of 106. These are both right around league-average but his red-hot start out of the gate this season felt like it was going to lead to more.

The 16-year veteran currently boasts a walk percentage of 12.8, which is the highest he's ever had in a full year. He's been finding plenty of ways to reach base, but just hasn't been the super efficient run producer he was last year for the Red Sox.

There's not necessarily a massive market for someone like Turner, but there's going to be calls made to the Blue Jays for sure. If a veteran presence who's still capable of producing decent-but-not-great on offense is an important piece to have, just like Brandon Belt was for this very same team in 2023.

Turner has 86 career playoff games under his belt, so he's just about as experienced as they come when it comes to high-leverage games. He's got 13 home runs and 42 RBI with a .270 average and .830 OPS across 368 plate appearances. There are going to be teams that see this track record and pick up the phone because of it.