The Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals look at a massive trade
Photo credit: MLB.com
Just a month or two ago, many expected the Toronto Blue Jays to be sellers at the trade deadline.
However, they've turned things around in recent weeks and are playing strong baseball, despite a rough 15-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. Now sitting at 44-37, the Blue Jays are just three games back of first place in the AL East.
Blue Jays eyeing star pitcher from Kansas City in blockbuster trade.
Jon Conahan from Heavy.com writes that if the Blue Jays maintain this momentum through the next month leading up to the July 31 trade deadline, they're likely to be buyers. In terms of potential targets, Sports Illustrated recently projected that Toronto could come out on top in the race for Seth Lugo, predicting them as the favourite to land the standout pitcher.
«Lugo doesn't strike out a ton of hitters, but he hasn't posted an ERA above 3.60 since 2020 and quietly finished second in AL Cy Young voting last year while winning a Gold Glove to boot. The 35-year-old also fared well in two playoff starts last season. The converted reliever would improve just about any postseason rotation, and the Royals may feel obliged to deal Lugo ahead of his looming free agency if MLB's lowest-scoring offense doesn't perk up in the coming weeks." -Sports Illustrated
According to Royals GM J.J. Picollo, there are many factors the team needs to weigh. While he admitted he's unsure what their record would need to be to shift into buyer mode or avoid selling, he noted that if Kansas City remains in playoff contention, players like Lugo may not be on the trade market at all.
The Royals are 38-44 and 13.0 games back in the American League Central.
«Whether it ends up being where we're in a position that we're in it, or a position we're not, you're always trying to improve your team. If we're within striking distance - and I don't know what that record would be because .500 seems to be a playoff record right now - I don't think we should panic and say the season is over. Because there are just too many games left in the season. We're trying to build off of something that was really positive last year. Making the playoffs again this year would be really important to this organization and really important to the city." -Picollo
Bringing Lugo into the fold would arguably rank as one of the more significant acquisitions of this year's trade deadline.
"The right-hander is getting up there in age at 35 years old, but he's continued to impress, posting a 2.93 ERA this season. After a 3.00 ERA and 181 strikeouts over 206.2 innings last year, there's reason to believe Lugo can continue throwing the baseball at this type of level." -Conahan
We'll see what unfolds before the trade deadline!
| POLL | ||
JUIN 29 | 1633 ANSWERS The Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals look at a massive trade Will the Blue Jays acquire pitcher Seth Lugo at the MLB Trade Deadline? | ||
| yes | 696 | 42.6 % |
| no | 937 | 57.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
TRENDING NOW
