It seems that the Blue Jays selling in 2024 is a matter of when, not if

If the Toronto Blue Jays were a stock, would you be buying shares of the company? Do they possess impactful players in Toronto, Buffalo, and Dunedin? Do they have the right people in charge to fully execute these visions? The answer to those questions may very well be in the negative and one can argue that the Blue Jays would be selling low based on the returns here in 2024. The time to sell may have been when this team was perched a lot of higher, but predicting the top and bottom of any market is exceedingly difficult.

The 2024 Blue Jays should instead think of themselves in the context of real estate. This summer is shaping up as a seller's market thanks to the advent of expanded postseason play.
It seems like the Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins are the only two teams in the National League that truly have no shot at October Baseball. In the American League, the Blue Jays may join Los Angeles, Oakland and the White Sox as the only other obvious sellers. That's a whopping six teams out of 30 who would seriously undertake the type of retooling that could positively alter a franchise's trajectory if performed correctly.

In a seller's market, the seller can collect big bang for their buck. Think of how well people who were selling their homes have done since the COVID pandemic. It also works in a baseball context and the Blue Jays could sit back and be on the six teams demanding exorbitant prices from teams looking to fortify their rosters for deep postseason runs. There may not be enough pitching to go around for the number of teams in baseball that have holes in their starting rotation and bullpen. The Dodgers are under the gun to win a World Series...how desperate would they get to fortify the one hole on their position player roster? A Justin Turner hot streak would most certainly satisfy the "buy low, sell high" mantra that stock investors utilize.

Are we sure Toronto has run out of rope and this window of contention has closed? Oh yes. An ill-timed losing streak against American League rivals has left the team at its lowest point this season. Truthfully, it traces back much farther than that. This team has struggled so poorly on offence that they were no-hit in the season's opening week! Davis Schneider saved their bacon two nights later or else that would have been another in a long line of letdowns.

They seem to play their best against the lightweight Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics while barely splitting series against the elite clubs in baseball. The warning signs have been blaring for a long time, and everyone could see that the pitching would not be able to duplicate last year's success. The struggles of the offence and bullpen has shocked almost everyone. The Blue Jays simply can't put together consistent offensive production and when they do, a maligned bullpen almost always coughs it away. Think of how much different this discussion would be if Erik Swanson and Tim Mayza don't implode against the Yankees, the pair of late-inning meltdowns in Washington and Baltimore, and Jordan Romano blowing it in Detroit. Those are just the ones that stick out the most, but a couple of different outcomes and it's the reason fans have to contemplate this unfortunate turn of events.

As alluded to above, the only reason why an observer may get queasy with the possibility of Toronto selling is the men in charge of executing this operation. Will these leaders soon be on their way out and not able to exert any future influence over the construction of the roster? If so, do you want them making these big decisions? New York Knicks fans will always wonder why you let Phil Jackson make a selection in the NBA Draft only to fire him days later. This situation is different, however, because the environment is so ripe for selling that really anyone running the Blue Jays should be able to extract something from these desperate teams.

The time has come for the Toronto Blue Jays to mount the "For Sale" sign on top of the nest. Before long there will be plenty of visitors. It will certainly be more preferable to playing meaningless games in front of small crowds. The worst thing in sports is to be stuck in the middle and if the Blue Jays don't pick a clear direction by July, they risk finding themselves in that awful predicament.