TORONTO – Over parts of nine seasons in the big-leagues, Eric Sogard has seen some pretty wild things go down around the trade deadline. Up until this year, when for the first time he’s been a regular in the speculative churn, the most jarring moment he remembers came July 31, 2014, when his Oakland Athletics sent slugger to Yoennis Cespedes and a draft pick to the Boston Red Sox for ace lefty Jon Lester and outfielder Jonny Gomes.
Audacious at the time, the unusual swap remains a prime example of the boldness that can be created when a desire to win is combined with the pressure point of a deadline.
“A trade like that when such big pieces are moved, it can almost change the dynamics of a clubhouse where you have star players traded away and you have star players coming in,” said Sogard, who went 2-for-6 as the right-fielder in the Toronto Blue Jays’ 10-9 comeback win over the Tampa Bay Rays, with Teoscar Hernandez’s walk-off homer in the 12th inning completing a rally from a seven-run deficit Saturday. “It takes a transitional period of meshing and getting that chemistry back with the new guys. Fortunately, we had great clubhouses back then that were able to take in the new guys well and have some fun runs.”
Sogard, the type of depth piece who makes sense for lots of contenders, isn’t likely to be part of a similar jaw-dropping scenario before Wednesday’s 4 p.m. ET cut-off. But with Marcus Stroman, Ken Giles and Daniel Hudson all in play, plus Freddy Galvis, David Phelps and Justin Smoak also possibilities to move, the Blue Jays are going to be in the middle of the action one way or another, and certainly have an opportunity to rattle the market.
Consider for a moment this scenario floated by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic:
One of many scenarios #Mets are exploring, per sources: Syndergaard to #Padres, then using some of return to land Stroman from #BlueJays. Not known which players would go from SD to NYM if deal occurred. RHP Cal Quantrill, a Canadian native, would be logical target for TOR.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 27, 2019
Now, let’s not take a deep dive into what that entails just yet. The Blue Jays continue to explore multiple options, and with Stroman’s public comments about not being extended eating away at GM Ross Atkins’ leverage, having stuff like this out there doesn’t hurt.
As colleague Jeff Blair pointed out, a lot of grist for mill seems to be coming out of New York in recent days, as the Mets angle for relevancy and the Yankees judiciously survey the market, seemingly in no rush to apply the league-wide levers they to some degree control.
They’ve been linked for months to Stroman, but to this point they don’t seem as fixated on him as media reports out of New York suggest, and it may very well be that they’re more on Giles to bolster their bullpen than on the all-star right-hander.
Still, suggesting the Mets could land Stroman not long after a report out of New York suggested the Blue Jays requested infielder Gleyber Torres and top pitching prospect Deivi Garcia for Stroman, a notion quietly poo-pooed in Toronto, is peak-level brinksmanship.
As teams largely remain stuck in a mid-season version of winter free-agency mode – buyers trying to wait out sellers in an attempt to suppress acquisition costs – good chance things only get more stupid, or outrageous.
At no point of the baseball calendar is a player made to feel like a commodity quite as much as right now.
“I’ve come to realize that for the first time this year with my name being out there and just thinking quickly about the possibility of moving on,” Sogard acknowledged. “I’ve absolutely loved it here with these guys. I’ve grown so close to them and I feel like I’ve been a part in their growing. So in a way I’d absolutely love to stay and continue that. Obviously that’s not my decision and if an opportunity comes with a contending team, I’ll have to move on, but I’ve made so many great friendships, it certainly won’t be the last time I talk to these guys.”
Amid the backroom bargaining, the growing pains continue on the field for the Blue Jays as lefty Ryan Borucki, part of the developing core they’re seeking to build into a winner, was hit hard in his second start of the season.
The Rays were all over him, pounding out six runs on eight hits – four off his sinker, two on his slider and two on his changeup – and two walks and two innings. Willy Adames and Travis d’Arnaud both hit three-run homers during a 40-pitch second that ended Borucki’s day.
“I’ve just got to get better, it’s that simple,” said Borucki. “My command has to get better, everything’s got to get better. It’s pretty self-explanatory. That’s not me. I’ve just got to be better.”
One of the few bright spots for the Blue Jays during a dismal 2018, when he posted a 3.87 ERA over 97.2 innings, Borucki is facing “a transition again to major-league hitters” after missing half the year with elbow inflammation, said pitching coach Pete Walker.
“I told him, ‘Don’t be impatient. It’s going to take a little bit of time and it might be two starts from now, it might be five starts from now before everything really clicks. But you’ve had a long year to this point, we saw some good things in the first outing,’” relayed Walker.
“He’s got a simple approach. He doesn’t have a huge pitch mix, he’s sinker, he’s slider, he’s changeup and he pitches to certain areas. Hitters are aware of that, but his stuff is good enough where it works. For him, it’s really just mixing those pitches up well enough, commanding them, which is really important and getting ahead with strike one. When he can do that, he can dominate any big-league team.”
For now, he’s a work in progress, just like the roster around him, just like the wider organization the front office is trying to stockpile with more youth before the trade deadline.
Stroman and Giles are the linchpins but Sogard, living a new experience as a trade chip, is an opportunity to be leveraged, too.
“I really haven’t thought too much of it in the past because I knew I wasn’t likely to be moved,” said Sogard. “Hearing my name this year has been something new to me but I’m fine with continuing to focus on the task at hand where I am today. Today I’m a Blue Jay, and I’m not letting the talk and stuff distract me.”
He’s day-to-day on that front, like nearly a third of the roster.
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