Orelvis Martinez’s suspension ends any chance of the Blue Jays buying at the trade deadline 

For those that were still optimistic of the Toronto Blue Jays in turning their season around this year and remaining a team of significance heading towards the trade deadline, that dream may have come officially to an end with the suspension of one of their top prospects Orelvis Martinez.

Ranked third among top prospects within the organization according to Jays Journal, Martinez had been having a strong season with the Jays’ Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. In 63 games, he had batted .260 with an .867 OPS, 46 runs scored, 14 doubles, 16 home runs and 46 RBI. 

With his recent promotion to the big leagues just last week, the Jays envisioned utilizing his potent bat to inject some much-needed offense into their lineup. In doing so, they hoped that it would help steer the team in the right direction to get back into the thick of things. However, with the PEDs allegations, Martinez will now be unavailable to the Blue Jays for 80 games, which meant the earliest he could be back and playing baseball again would be in September. So much for the offensive boost to put them back into the playoff picture.

But that wasn’t the only dilemma facing both Martinez and the Jays. With the suspension, the Jays will likely no longer be active buyers come the trade deadline this season. That is because if the Jays are supposedly still in contention at the time, they would be looking for major league level upgrades that could immediately help their roster. In doing so, it will likely require a high-end prospect going the other way to make the deal happen, and the Jays’ biggest trade chip happens to be none other than Martinez.

Under normal circumstances, the Jays’ top pitching prospects Ricky Tiedemann and Brandon Barriera could have been key pieces in trade talks as well. However, both have had their injury troubles last season and this current season as well, which should be enough to steer potential suitors away for the time being. As a result, Martinez represented the Jays’ top prospect that they had in which they could move, since there really isn’t any other prospects in the system that could generate a big enough interest. But with the unexpected suspension, that potential plan has now been completely nullified.

Therefore, with the double whammy of losing both Martinez’s lethal bat and his enormous value in a trade, sad to say, the Jays will have to stick with what they already have for the rest of the season. An even worst case scenario, they may be headed towards the sellers category in the not-so-distant future if their current struggles continue.