With five weeks remaining before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, the Toronto Blue Jays continue scouting the league for potential upgrades to their starting rotation. Pro scouting director Perry Minasian was among those in attendance at Wrigley Field to watch Jeff Samardzija pitch Monday, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
Furthermore, Morosi reports that there are strong indications that the Chicago Cubs would trade Samardzija to the Blue Jays if they could obtain right-hander Aaron Sanchez, left-hander Daniel Norris, and centre fielder Dalton Pompey.
However, the Blue Jays reportedly maintain that they won’t include all three prospects in the same deal, and are said to prefer David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays or Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Samardzija, 29, has a 2.53 ERA with 97 strikeouts and 31 walks in 103 innings this year. He’s earning $5.35 million and will be arbitration eligible one last time this coming off-season before hitting free agency following the 2015 campaign.
Sanchez, who was recently promoted to triple-A, has established himself as Toronto’s top prospect. Though the 21-year-old has struggled with his fastball command this year, he has a 4.08 ERA over the course of 16 starts in the upper minors.
Norris, also 21, was enjoying a breakout season at Class A before earning a promotion to double-A. The lefty posted a 1.22 ERA with 76 strikeouts and 18 walks in 13 starts for the Dunedin Blue Jays before advancing to New Hampshire.
Pompey has spent the entire season at Class A Dunedin, where he’s batting .312/.392/.460 with 27 stolen bases. The 21-year-old Mississauga, ON native was a 16th round draft pick in 2010.
