The Toronto Blue Jays didn’t make any moves at Wednesday’s non-waiver trade deadline, but they may have taken a serious look at addressing their starting rotation.
The Blue Jays pursued a trade with the Houston Astros for starter Bud Norris before he was dealt to the Baltimore Orioles, according to ESPN’s Jayson Stark.
The Astros shipped Norris to Baltimore for outfielder L.J. Hoes and left-handed prospect Josh Hader.
The 28-year-old right-hander would have been a logical fit for the Blue Jays because he is under team control as an arbitration-eligible player through the 2015 season.
Norris is making just $3 million this year and would been a nice fit at the back end of the Blue Jays’ rotation.
Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos will now look to bolster the roster in the off-season.
“There’s no question we’re going to have to make changes and improve the roster in various ways,” Anthopoulos told reporters Wednesday. “But there weren’t those opportunities for us in terms of deals that made sense right now.”
Toronto has not gotten the results they envisioned out of new additions R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson, and Mark Buehrle, who were brought in to address their need for starting pitchers.
The Blue Jays have a 50-57 record and sit in last place in the American League East.