MLB insider reveals timeline for Blue Jays' tough trade deadline decision

Entering the season, the 2024 Toronto Blue Jays had their sights set on playing meaningful October baseball for the fourth straight year. Inexplicably, that vision has not quite come together through the first 70-plus games.

The offense has been surprisingly lackluster, the starting pitching has been spotty (especially when it comes to staying healthy) and the bullpen has experienced its fair share of struggles as well. This team has gone from an offensive powerhouse with one of the best pitching staffs in baseball to one teetering on the brink of a sell-off.

Super-insider Jeff Passan of ESPN penned a trade deadline preview piece (subscription required) recently and broke down what he's hearing about all 30 teams and their approach to the trading frenzy. The Blue Jays, unsurprisingly, found themselves in the "hinge teams" category, meaning they could go either way and their direction is undecided. According to Passan, he's been told by industry sources that the Jays will not signal their intentions whether they're buying, selling or staying put until after the All-Star break ends on July 18.

Blue Jays will wait as long as they can to make deadline decisions

Should the Blue Jays decide to sell at this year's trade deadline, there are no shortages of names that could be moved. GM Ross Atkins has publicly stated that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and/or Bo Bichette will not be one of them, but we all know that things can - and frequently do - change quickly. Other top trade chips include veterans on short-term deals such as Yusei Kikuchi, Danny Jansen, Yimi Garcia, Justin Turner and Kevin Kiermaier.

Going a bit further, the likes of Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman or even Jose Berrios could see themselves moved if the Blue Jays decide to go the route of a complete teardown. However, that seems like a longshot and, frankly, the speculation from many around the industry that the Jays' sell-off could go this deep are silly.

One of the more realistic possibilities is that the Blue Jays trade their rental pieces away for more than just prospect packages. If they can get big league-ready help in any of the deals, it'd make sense for them to wave the white flag on 2024 and set their sights on a return to contention in 2025. Stranger things have happened.

Really, there aren't a lot of games to be played between now and that end of the All-Star break Passan mentioned, and most of the ones the Blue Jays have on the docket are against tough teams. They took a series from Oakland but promptly lost one to Milwaukee. Next up are the likes of the Guardians, Red Sox and Yankees, all tough teams.

Should the Jays find a way to get above .500 during this stretch, it wouldn't be shocking at all to see them go from "definite sellers" to buyers. Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith posted on X saying that if the Jays make it above that .500 mark, he could see them buying, but not any of the top-available names. This puts throws some ice on Jon Heyman's wild remarks about the Blue Jays being one of the top fits for Luis Robert Jr. of the White Sox.