Mariners Trade Targets: The Blue Jays – besides Vlad and Bo – to watch

The Toronto Blue Jays look like one of the pretty clear sellers before the upcoming MLB trade deadline, and they could have some pieces to help out the Seattle Mariners in their push for the postseason and an American League West crown.

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Toronto entered Thursday in last place in the AL East at 42-50, 15 games behind first-place Baltimore and 8 1/2 games off the last wild card spot.

The talk surrounding the Blue Jays in recent weeks has been how much they’re willing to part with before the end of the month. They could look to move just their players on expiring contracts, or they could shift towards a full-on rebuild and trade away stars Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette for prospect hauls.

Blue Jays play-by-play voice Dan Shulman weighed in on the situation Thursday when he joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.

“My guess is they’re (going to be sellers),” Shulman said. “If they win today and then go sweep Arizona and come out of the break and sweep Detroit (it could change), but they haven’t shown the ability to do that. They haven’t been a get-on-a-run team all year. They just haven’t been very good. They haven’t hit very much. Their bullpen has been decimated by either injuries or underperformance. So the rotation is good. The defense is good, but overall they’re just not a great team.

“… So my guess is they’re out and they’re just waiting until after the draft over the All-Star break and then they can throw their resources into the trade deadline.”

Will Guerrero and Bichette be available?

The Blue Jays could potentially make the biggest deal at the trade deadline by trading one or both of multi-time All-Stars Guerrero and Bichette, but general manager Ross Atkins already indicated the team isn’t planning to do so. Shulman believes he’ll stick true to that word.

“Guerrero’s got one more year on his deal (after this season),” Shulman said. “I don’t think they’re going to trade Guerrero. The ownership just renovated the entire ballpark over the last two years (for) $400 million (and) ticket prices went up. I don’t think this is a good time or the right time for them to do a deep rebuild. I think they’ll trade away the expiring contract guys and then try to reboot and get after it again next year.”

That also means Bichette, who’s also under club control through 2025, would be off the table.

“I don’t think they’re going to trade him,” Shulman said. “The other issue with Bo – there are two issues. One, he is not having a good year, and if you look at his numbers, it’s a 180 from normal Bo Bichette. Normal Bo Bichette hits .300 and leads the league in hits. This year’s Bo Bichette is hitting in the .220s and he’s only got four homers, and nobody that I know can figure out why.

“Also, he was on the IL with a minor calf issue. He came off, I think, just before the Blue Jays got to Seattle last week, and he aggravated it last night. We don’t know how serious it is yet.”

Who are the most likely trade candidates?

Starting pitching has been the strength for the Blue Jays this season, which isn’t the need for Seattle. But Shulman did bring up one interesting starter in the form of ex-Mariners left-hander Yusei Kikuchi.

“He is a different guy than he used to be,” Shulman said. “Look at his last start, he struck out 13 guys in seven innings in his last start. He’s a much better pitcher now than he was, and it’s taken a lot of work to get him there.”

Kikuchi had the best season of his career in 2023 with an 11-6 record and 3.86 ERA over 167 2/3 innings. He’s 4-8 with a 4.00 ERA over 101 1/3 innings this season.

Shulman also rattled off the name of several position players and relievers: catcher Danny Jansen, third baseman Justin Turner, outfielder Kevin Kiermaier and relievers Yimi Garcia and Trevor Richards.

Jansen is a right-handed bat with a career .223/.309/.427 slash line and 70 home runs in 646 games over seven MLB seasons. He posted 43 combined home runs and a .772 OPS or higher in each season from 2021-23. He’s hitting .217/.315/.377 with five home runs in 56 games this year.

Turner, a 39-year-old right-handed bat, has a long track record of hitting at the MLB level. He’s a two-time All-Star with over 1,500 hits and nearly 200 home runs in his career. Turner posted an .800 OPS or better in nine of 10 seasons heading into this season. In 2024, Turner is slashing .240/.346/.358 with 15 doubles, five home runs and 28 RBIs in 77 games.

Kiermaier is in an interesting situation. The Blue Jays placed him on revocable waivers Thursday afternoon, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman reported Kiermaier is owed about $4.5 million on the one-year deal he signed in the offseason. Kiermaier has an elite glove in center field and has won four Gold Gloves, but he’s been a below league average bat throughout most of his career. Kiermaier is hitting just .183 in 70 games this season.

Garcia, a right-hander, has several solid big-league seasons under his belt, including three with at least 50 innings pitched and an ERA below 3.62. He’s currently on a rehab assignment after going on the IL in mid-June with ulnar neuritis in his right elbow. He has a 2.57 ERA and five saves over 28 innings this season.

Richards, another right-hander, is having one of the best season of his career in 2024. He has a 3.40 ERA over 47 2/3 innings.

What about Springer?

Another player co-hosts Mike Salk and Brock Huard asked Shulman about was outfielder George Springer, who Mariners fans are plenty familiar with from his time with the Houston Astros.

Springer still hears plenty of boos when he steps to the plate at T-Mobile Park, and the 34 year old is on track to have the worst season of his career. In 85 games, he’s slashing .221/.309/.364 with 14 doubles, 10 home runs and 34 RBIs, but he’s been one of the league’s hottest hitters lately. Springer is hitting .392 with five home runs, 19 RBIs and a .785 slugging percentage in his past 15 games, including a game-tying, three-run home run against the Mariners last weekend.

Springer, 34, is in the fourth year of a six-year deal, and he’s owed just over $24 million per year in 2025 and 2026.

“I think they’d listen on that, but I would imagine the Blue Jays would have to eat a lot of the money too, and I don’t know about their willingness to do that,” Shulman said. “The other thing is they have to put a team on the field, too. So this year and next year, and they’ve already got like four or five guys from Triple-A who are up. … It falls into the highly unlikely category.”

Listen to the full conversation with Blue Jays play-by-play voice Dan Shulman at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

Seattle Mariners news and analysis

• Mariners Insider: How George Kirby is mixing pitches differently now
• Mariners place OF on IL, recall toolsy prospect from Tacoma
• Future of a Mariners minor league affiliate is now uncertain
• Who are the Mariners competing with at the trade deadline?
• Rost: Six bats that are potential trade fits for Seattle Mariners’ lineup
• Ranking the Seattle Mariners’ trade needs by position

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