TORONTO — For teams interested in augmenting their rotations, Rogers Centre is a good place to spend the weekend.
Facing the Blue Jays on Friday night, the Tigers’ Jack Flaherty looked like a frontline starter, the kind of pitcher who will be in high demand ahead of the July 30 trade deadline. With a fastball up to 95.8 m.p.h., a swing-and-miss slider and an effective knuckle curve, the 28-year-old has the weapons to excel in October as he showed with 5.2 innings of two-run baseball marred only by the hanging slider Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit for a two-run homer.
On Saturday, another trade candidate with frontline stuff will pitch at Rogers Centre, and contending teams are sure to be watching carefully once again.
The Blue Jays re-shuffled their rotation coming out of the All-Star break, meaning Yusei Kikuchi will now face the Tigers (3 p.m. ET on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+) in what might be one of his final starts in Toronto. While the Blue Jays ostensibly bumped up Kikuchi’s start to give José Berríos and Yariel Rodriguez a little extra rest, the possibility of a Kikuchi trade is real enough that manager John Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker have discussed how they’d backfill the big-league rotation if needed.
“We’ve spent a lot of time on that,” Schneider said Friday afternoon.
By bumping Kikuchi’s start up a bit, the Blue Jays also made it possible he could start for an acquiring team as soon as July 31 or Aug. 1, potentially making him more desirable. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the Blue Jays have broached the possibility of trades with select veterans, including Kikuchi.
“He gets it,” Schneider said. “We’ve talked to him about it. Nothing’s done. Nothing’s set in stone.”
In a market that lacks many clear sellers, there should be legitimate demand for the likes of Flaherty and Kikuchi, who are both set to become free agents following the season. Reinforcing that point, scouts from multiple contenders were on hand watching the Blue Jays-Tigers game Friday — the Diamondbacks, among others.
There could be multiple reasons for Arizona’s interest in this series — with Merrill Kelly, Jordan Montgomery and Eduardo Rodriguez on the way back they may not even need starting pitching — but due diligence is necessary at this time of year, and speculation is sure to follow.
“These guys are used to it, given the nature of how much attention the trade deadline gets,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. “We know it’s coming. We don’t know what we’re going to do. The one thing we can control is the nightly game.”
While Kikuchi and Flaherty offer different skillsets, Kikuchi might have slightly broader appeal due to the fact both the Orioles and Cardinals, two contenders in need of rotation help, both let Flaherty go last year and therefore seem unlikely to prioritize him so soon afterwards.
WHY DEALS HAPPEN LATE
Technically, the Blue Jays could make a trade at any time, and occasionally significant deals will happen well in advance of the trade deadline.
More often than not, though, trades happen on or right before deadline day, and that’s a safe expectation for the 2024 Blue Jays as well. Even if they know what they’re willing to do, that’s only part of the equation. Until there’s clarity league-wide, there’s a limit on what the Blue Jays can realistically accomplish.
Consider the Texas Rangers, for example. At 46-51, they’re almost in it. A good week puts them right back in the playoff mix while a bad one makes them clear sellers. Also around the .500 mark: the Rays, Tigers, Mets, Pirates, Reds, Diamondbacks, Padres and Giants.
Those nine teams represent one third of MLB, and yet none have obvious paths forward just yet. Waiting as long as possible will be the prudent choice for many of those GMs, and as long as they’re waiting everyone else is impacted, too.
Because while there are some clear buyers — the Yankees, Guardians or Dodgers, for instance — those teams may want to learn the full extent of what’s available before trading away desirable prospects. To go back to the Rangers example, the presence of Max Scherzer, Andrew Heaney, Nathan Eovaldi, Kirby Yates and David Robertson would reshape the market for pitching.
It would be understandable if the likes of the Yankees and Dodgers wanted to see what happens there instead of rushing to make offers on the few players who clearly are available. And in the meantime, presumed sellers like the Blue Jays must be patient.
A LESSON FROM THE DONALDSON TRADE
Someone recently wondered whether the Blue Jays could trade Isiah Kiner-Falefa this summer and while the possibility initially seems unlikely, let’s reconsider that for a moment.
Kiner-Falefa is on the injured list with a left-knee sprain, but he was running on the field before Friday’s game and said by Schneider to be progressing well. With the versatility to play around the diamond and a .758 OPS, he has a skillset that would help any contender. And while Kiner-Falefa has been a great addition in Toronto, the Blue Jays have younger players emerging who could use the playing time.
Now, none of that’s to say the Blue Jays are hoping to trade Kiner-Falefa, who is set to earn a reasonable $7.5 million in 2025. But it’s a move they could be open to, and it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve traded an infielder on the injured list. Back in 2018, the Blue Jays sent Josh Donaldson to Cleveland — a reminder that such deals are possible as long as the commissioner’s office approves them.
