A successful second half of the season would look much different for the Toronto Blue Jays than it would for the Oakland Athletics.
For the 51-40 Blue Jays, the AL East remains within reach and anything less than a Wild Card berth would be a disappointment. At 38-51, the Athletics are already out of the playoff mix. Success for Oakland would be getting a meaningful return for pending free agents like Rich Hill and Josh Reddick while seeing development from young players.
The second half begins Friday with the first of three games in Oakland:
Friday, July 15 – 10:05 p.m. ET
Marcus Stroman vs. Daniel Mengden
Saturday, July 16 – 4:05 p.m. ET
TBA vs. Sonny Gray
Sunday, July 17 – 4:05 p.m. ET
TBA vs. TBA
Trade targets on display
Expect a wide array of scouts to watch every start that Hill and Sonny Gray make for the rest of July. Selling high on Hill seems prudent since the Athletics aren’t winning anything this year, but they could choose to hold onto Gray, a long-term piece.
Either way, the Blue Jays don’t seem like a logical landing spot for these pitchers. Combine the scarcity of quality starting pitching on the market with the acute need for pitching in places like Texas and Baltimore and it’s hard to see Toronto winning bidding wars for top starters like Hill (whose second half debut will be delayed by blister issues) and Gray. The short-term challenge? Scoring off of them.
Hill and Gray aren’t the only trade candidates on Oakland’s roster. Reddick, Ryan Madson and Danny Valencia should also draw trade interest in the coming weeks. Considering that the Athletics rank 13th among the 15 American League teams in runs scored and 14th in runs allowed, they have plenty of needs to address.
Donaldson’s Trout-like production
It’ll be years before we can fully assess the tenure of Alex Anthopoulos in Toronto, but at this point his signature trade may be the deal that sent Brett Lawrie, Kendall Graveman, Sean Nolin and Franklin Barreto to Oakland for Josh Donaldson. In the year and a half since the trade, Donaldson has matched the production of Mike Trout, widely considered the best player in baseball.
| Name | G | HR | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Trout | 248 | 59 | 26 | .307 | .410 | .581 | .415 | 171 | 14.6 |
| Josh Donaldson | 247 | 64 | 12 | .299 | .388 | .578 | .407 | 159 | 14.1 |
Trout and Donaldson are again atop the wins above replacement leaderboard, setting up yet another intriguing MVP race. Best of all, the Blue Jays have Donaldson around for two seasons after 2016.
You win some, you lose some
As long as we’re talking trades, let’s look back at two other moves involving these clubs.
Jesse Chavez, who was acquired for Liam Hendriks over the winter, has a 3.41 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 34.1 innings for Toronto. He’s also seventh on the Blue Jays’ starting pitching depth chart, right behind Drew Hutchison. Hendriks, meanwhile, has a 6.00 ERA, which tilts this deal in Toronto’s favour.
On the other hand, Oakland’s decision to claim Danny Valencia last August looks smart. In 114 games with Oakland, the third baseman has 23 home runs with a .296/.356/.511 slash line. Not bad at all considering they got him from Toronto for nothing.
Regular playing time
Darwin Barney has quietly kept getting plenty of playing time, even though Devon Travis, Troy Tulowitzki and Donaldson are all healthy.
Manager John Gibbons started Barney nine times in the 11-game homestand that preceded the All-Star break, mixing him in at second, third and short. The results were good for Barney (12/36 with an .813 OPS and excellent defence) and the Blue Jays (8-3 on the homestand), so don’t be surprised to see Barney continue getting regular playing time in the weeks ahead.
Pace yourself
The Blue Jays are on pace to win 91 games, two shy of their total from 2015. But they open the second half playing some of their best baseball of the year. If general manager Ross Atkins can upgrade the pitching staff in the weeks preceding the Aug. 1 trade deadline, it’s easy to envision another strong finish in Toronto.
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