How did the Blue Jays’ AL East rivals fare at the trade deadline?

After quite the underwhelming trade deadline for the Toronto Blue Jays, many have wondered if the Jays even did enough to make themselves contenders down the stretch. After all, important aspects such as adding starting pitching depth and an impactful power bat never materialized, with only the addition of bullpen depth along with insurance for the currently injured Bo Bichette was addressed. In doing so, will the Jays be at a disadvantage compared to their rivals going into the final two months of the season?

Here, we take a look at how some of the Jays’ AL East rivals have done at the trade deadline with regards to upgrading their teams and what potential impact it could have on the Jays in their playoff chase.

Boston Red Sox

As the team currently trailing the Jays and in closest competition for the third and final Wild Card spot, the Boston Red Sox pulled off quite the underwhelming trade deadline, even more so than the Jays. They just made a measly, minor trade transaction with the Milwaukee Brewers in adding INF Luis Urias in exchange for minor league pitching prospect Bradley Blalock for some infield depth.

If extended back beyond a week prior to the deadline, they actually traded away utilityman Kiké Hernández to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two pitching prospects in Nick Robertson and Justin Hagenman. So in retrospect, Urias kind of replaces Hernández as the backup depth on the roster, but Hernández obviously has been the more proven veteran of the two, so on paper it appears to be a step backwards for the ballclub.

Potential impact on the Jays: None – Or actually, maybe it does have an impact on the Jays because the fact that the Red Sox probably got slightly worse, it increases the chances of the Jays pulling away from the Red Sox in the playoff chase and have one less foe to worry about down the road.