With Blue Jays farm system in shambles, the time to sell is right now

The 2024 season has not been kind to the Toronto Blue Jays so far. The club is 46-56 so far and falling further and further out of contention by the day. Thursday's 13-0 loss to the Rays was one of the worst losses of the year. Contention has not been within the organization's grasp in quite some time, but there was a brief period where a Wild Card berth was at least somewhat in the realm of possibility.

What makes the events of this season even more disappointing is the fact that the minor leagues are not looking much better.

• Nathan Lukes, the club's backup outfielder who always hits the cover off the ball in Triple-A, is on the long-term injured list.
• Ricky Tiedemann, the club's top prospect, is once again on the injured list and cannot stay healthy to save his life. His shine is rapidly fading.
• Orelvis Martinez is on the restricted list after being hit with an 80-game PED suspension.
• Brandon Barriera, the Blue Jays' first-round pick in 2022, underwent Tommy John surgery in April.
• Landon Maroudis, who had an 0.84 ERA through 10.2 minor league innings this year, also had Tommy John surgery.

That's only part of the story. A multitude of important minor leaguers have spent stints of varying lenghths on the injured list this year, too, and we're only halfway through.

Blue Jays farm system is in complete shambles

The Blue Jays' farm system has long been rated as one of the worst in all of baseball. In fact, they haven't been lower than 20th since the 2022 pre-season rankings. The pre- and mid-season lists in every year since have brought more and more bad news.

Jays Journal's Charles Kime took a deep dive into the farm system rankings and why this year's mid-season update won't be pretty. Check that out here.

Knowing how rough the system looks, the front office needs to send any tradeable assets packing, and fast. The 2024 trade deadline is just days away and nobody has moved yet, but that needs to change. There are virtually zero prospect reinforcements on the way for next season, so how exactly are the Blue Jays supposed to aim for contention one last time during the Vlad and Bo era?

The time to sell is now

It's obvious by this point that the current campaign is going to be a wash. No ground is being made up in the standings anytime soon and with multiple rentals (and players with an extra year of control, really) available to other clubs, the Blue Jays would be wise to start pulling triggers left and right.

Danny Jansen, Justin Turner, Kevin Kiermaier, Trevor Richards, Yimi Garcia and Yusei Kikuchi are all on expiring contracts. Each and every one of them should finish this season in new uniforms. That's not to say that they aren't well-liked and don't have a spot on the Blue Jays, because that could not be further from the truth.

Instead, they need to be viewed more as assets to build the future than anything else. Jansen, Garcia and Kikuchi have the highest trade values out of the bunch, with Kikuchi and Garcia being virtual locks to be traded. There are a ton of clubs around the league with pitching needs, so the Blue Jays should be very active in talks with these teams.

Really, the Blue Jays should not stop there. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Bo Bichette, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Chad Green should be considered, too. Bichette took himself out of the running in trade discussions after going down with another calf injury, but he's been fed up with the Blue Jays for a while now, ask anyone who watches him play on a nightly basis. His contract makes his value at an all-time high right now, but the door is closed on moving him - for now.

Since the Blue Jays' minor league system is so run down, the best way to replenish that is to make trades in exchange for prospects. Sure, there's always the draft and international free agency, but the current front office hasn't proven that they're able to manuever these waters successfully. That leaves trades as the way to go.