There’s still plenty of time before the July 31 trade deadline for the Toronto Blue Jays to figure out if they’ll be buyers or sellers.
If the team has trouble staying afloat in the competitive AL East or loses ground in the wild-card race, however, two players guaranteed to garner attention will be pending free agent starters Marco Estrada and Francisco Liriano.
Estrada is in the midst of another respectable campaign, despite a relatively poor outing in Oakland Tuesday. He leads the Blue Jays in innings pitched and currently sits third in the AL with 90 strikeouts.
“I think he’s very well positioned to be somebody who brings back a solid return at the deadline if that’s the way they go,” Sports Illustrated’s Jay Jaffe told Jeff Blair on Sportsnet 590 The Fan Wednesday. “Given the scarcity of starting pitching, front-line starting pitching, I think he could be a very valuable piece at the deadline if they have to sell.”
The 33-year-old is making $14.5 million in 2017 and isn’t eligible to receive a qualifying offer.
“I don’t like to think about that sort of stuff,” Estrada told Sportsnet’s Starting Lineup in May. “I keep saying the same thing. I want to come back. I want to play here in this city and be a Blue Jay but it’s not always up to me. We’ll see what happens. I’m not going to get into it but I know that time’s coming.”
While Estrada’s value would conceivably be high, Liriano’s likely wouldn’t be.
“I think it’s comparable to what it was last August when they got him,” Jaffe said. “I mean, Liriano wasn’t blowing anybody away in Pittsburgh when he had a similar ERA to what he has now—5.46 then, 5.94 now.”
Liriano was acquired by the Blue Jays along with prospects Reese McGuire and Harold Ramirez when Toronto sent Drew Hutchison to the Pirates.
“I think that’s the kind of deal you’re looking at here,” Jaffe said. “He can get something of use for the organization but not necessarily something that’s going to be a blue chip prospect.”
The Blue Jays have dropped two straight against the Athletics after a four-game split with the Yankees and it remains to be seen how the team responds without Devon Travis. The second baseman was placed on the disabled list Tuesday with a bone bruise in his right knee.
Travis had been one of the hottest players in the league at the plate over the past month hitting .364/.373/.646/1.019 with 19 RBI in 26 May games.
“I would say in general the trend arrow is pointing in the right direction part,” Jaffe said. “They have the team that they want for the most part on the field minus Devon Travis.”
The 28-31 record the Blue Jays have isn’t anything to boast over, yet they’ve gone 26-20 since digging themselves out of a 2-11 hole.
“If those margins hold come mid-July I could see them being much more motivated to buy rather than to sell to try to get one more run out of this current core without sacrificing too much,” Jaffe said. “It’s a bit early to bury them and say this is going to be split up for parts.”
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