MLB Odds: Toronto Blue Jays believed to be targeting pitching ahead of trade deadline

With a 63-44 record, the Toronto Blue Jays are one of the hottest teams in baseball right now. Toronto holds a 5.5-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East standings and no team in the American League boasts a better record.

That means Thursday’s trade deadline day will see the Jays as buyers, so who should they target and what assets will they give up? Let’s take a look.

What does Toronto need?

With one of the best offences in baseball, Toronto is believed to be targeting pitching as their focus for upgrades at the deadline. Both the rotation and bullpen have serious question marks, so multiple pitchers could be acquired this week.

The top three rotation of Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt have been relatively stable all season, but the Jays have been forced to use nine other pitchers in the final two rotation spots. Eric Lauer has been a nice surprise with a 2.61 ERA in 10 starts this season, but Max Scherzer and Bowden Francis have both missed significant time with injuries.

And while Toronto boasts a top-10 bullpen in terms of ERA (3.72), there still needs to be some tinkering done. In particular, closer Jeff Hoffman hasn’t had a great first year with the Blue Jays, as he’s posted a 4.78 ERA with four blown saves in 28 outings.

Trade targets

So, who could Toronto target to upgrade their pitching? One name that has come up to add to the rotation is Miami’s Sandy Alcantara, who has already asked for a trade. Alcantara has struggled with an ugly 6.66 ERA this year after missing all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery, but he’s a former Cy Young winner and a change of scenery could help him return to his past All Star status.

The Jays could also target the disastrous Athletics organization, which has some veteran pitchers available as trade chips. Lefties JP Sears (4.98 ERA) and Jeffrey Springs (4.13 ERA) as well as righties Osvaldo Bido (5.86 ERA) and Luis Severino (4.95 ERA) should be available.

Bullpen depth is essential to a long playoff run, so you can be sure Toronto will add some relievers. Rays closer Pete Fairbanks has a solid 2.84 ERA and 17 saves over 38 innings this season and he’s signed at less than $4 million with a club option for next year.

Another option to poach from within the division could be Baltimore’s Felix Bautista, who has a 2.60 ERA and 19 saves this season. Bautista provides a lot of value on a reasonable two-year, $2 million contract.

Blue Jays assets

The Blue Jays farm system has greatly improved over the last couple of years, so they should have a lot of ammo when it comes to bidding wars.

The two headliners for Toronto to shop are shortstop Arjun Nimmala, who is No. 42 in Baseball America’s mid-season rankings, and right-hander Trey Yesavage, No. 62. Both names could be used to anchor a package if the Blue Jays go big-game hunting.

Young pitching is always a a valuable commodity in the trade market and five of Toronto’s top-10 prospects are pitchers, including Yesavage, Ricky Tiedemann, Khal Stephen, Gage Stanifer and Johnny King.

The Jays also have some MLB-ready players that could be attractive for teams who think they can compete next season. The trio of outfielders Joey Loperfido, Alan Roden and Jonatan Clase have all spent time in the majors this season.

One interesting trade chip is Orelvis Martinez, who was viewed as a top-100 prospect before receiving an 80-game suspension last season for a violation of baseball’s performance-enhancing drug policy. Martinez hasn’t had a strong year in Triple-A Buffalo, but he has a lot of power and at only 23, he’s young enough for teams to take a gamble on him.