It’s safe to say that the 2024 season has not gone to plan so far for the Toronto Blue Jays. Now the team must accept the harsh reality that they will be sellers at the MLB trade deadline.
Yes, the trade deadline is still a month away and a slumping team can get hot. But the Blue Jays need to face some facts.
Toronto currently sits dead last in the stacked American League East, a brutal 15.5 games out of first. And after losing six straight at the time of this writing, including a three-game sweep at the hands of the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians, the Blue Jays have fallen 6.5 games back in the Wild Card race.
With a bloated payroll north of $223 million–the ninth highest in baseball for 2024–it’s clear that throwing big money at big names in free agency isn't working for Toronto. Unfortunately, help does not appear on the way as the Blue Jays' farm system is considered one of the worst in baseball.
One of the team’s very few exciting prospects, Orelvis Martinez, just made his major league debut after the Jays lost slumping shortstop Bo Bichette to the injured list with a strained calf. However, the team learned they’d be going without their premier power hitting prospect’s services for 80 games due to a PED suspension.
The 22-year-old Martinez had been tearing up the minors, mashing an impressive 102 home runs and driving in 303 runs in Toronto’s farm system since the 2021 season. His suspension for testing positive for the fertility drug clomiphene came just two days after his major league debut.
That gut punch seemingly punctuated the team’s rough start to the season and should set them on the path to selling at the trade deadline.
Blue Jays' perfect trade deadline
Sadly for the team, they’re unlikely to generate any interest in 34-year-old George Springer, who’s currently hitting below the Mendoza line and sporting an egregious 64 OPS+ while raking in over $24 million a year through the 2026 season.
Justin Turner and Kevin Kiermaier, 39 and 34 respectively, are both on expiring contracts but neither is viewed as an impact player as their best days are behind them.
Big money starting pitcher Kevin Gausman, 33, is also struggling this season with an ERA+ below 100 despite his $22 million salary.
But the Blue Jays are not just a collection of struggling 30-somethings with hefty contracts. They also have struggling 20-somethings that were once considered generational building blocks.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 25, and Bo Bichette, 26, have been considered essential to Toronto’s hopes of building a championship contender. But both have struggled this year along with the older, overpaid players, ultimately leading the team to the division’s cellar (to be fair, Vlad has heated up and now sports a 123 OPS+ but has had something of a down season for a player of his abilities).
Going nowhere fast, Toronto needs to shed salary and rebuild the farm system. Vlad and Bo both become free agents following the 2025 season, meaning they have value to potential trade partners beyond a mid-season rental and moving them would relieve some of the Blue Jays’ financial burden.
While it’s essentially sacrilege to suggest the team move on from Guerrero Jr., a 25-year-old superstar, it seems like good sense to dangle Bichette’s services and see if there are any takers. True, Bichette is having a season to forget. But it’s likely a team would be willing to part with some sexy prospects to land the two-time All Star shortstop who’s still in his mid-20s and had been excellent prior to 2024.
In addition to Bichette, the Blue Jay’s should consider offering up quality starter Chris Bassitt. The 35-year-old righty is making $22 million a year and becomes a free agent after 2025. If a contender adds Bassitt to the rotation and Toronto clears that salary off their books while adding some young pitching talent, everybody wins.
The Blue Jays need to get younger and cheaper. The San Diego Padres would make a solid trade partner as they’re in the thick of the NL Wild Card race and boast one of the best farm systems in baseball. Or perhaps the NL West-leading LA Dodgers would be willing to part with some of their developing talent for better odds of winning it all this year.
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