It's Deadline Day! What to watch for from the Toronto Blue Jays
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Deadline day is here! The deadline is 6pm Eastern time, meaning there are less than 11 hours to go now for Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins to improve this club.
After 6 p.m. ET today, trades will no longer be permitted, putting pressure on contending front offices to do everything they can to improve their World Series chances now.
As recently as Wednesday afternoon, some executives on buying teams were frustrated that sellers weren't moving off their high asking prices, but by the evening, the market started moving with a trio of prominent relievers traded for big returns along with some smaller deals.
The addition of Dominguez represents a good start for the Blue Jays, who won Wednesday thanks in part to the right-hander's clean eighth inning against his former team, the Orioles.
Yet the Blue Jays continue pursuing relievers actively.
But while prospect Juaron Watts-Brown was a significant price to pay for Dominguez, the cost of some of the relievers traded Wednesday was even higher.
Big name relievers that have come off the board so far have come at a high cost
- The Mets acquired Tyler Rogers from the Giants for right-hander José Butto and prospects Drew Gilbert and Blade Tidwell.
- The Mets acquired Ryan Helsley from the Cardinals for prospects Jesus Baez, Nate Dohm and Frank Elissalt.
- The Phillies acquired Jhoan Duran from the Twins for prospects Mick Abel and Eduardo Tait, two of the game's top 100 prospects according to MLB Pipeline.
With that in mind, the prices on controllable relievers like Mason Miller and David Bednar will likely be extremely high, too.
The Toronto Blue Jays remain highly motivated to acquire pitching in the final hours of the deadline
But at least for rental relievers, the leverage will soon shift back toward buyers since this is the last chance for sellers to land prospects for their arms.
As for the Blue Jays, they remain motivated here. They were linked to Helsley extensively on Wednesday, and they did have interest, but others proved to be equally motivated as the Cardinals chose the Mets' offer, described by rival executives as a strong one.
In theory, a similar addition could help this year, providing valuable depth without disrupting the current starting five.
Pitchers like Steven Matz and Mike Soroka fit this description, but both were traded late Wednesday.
Still, the likes of Jeffrey Springs and Charlie Morton are out there, and there's value in raising a team's floor.
Offensive help is another possibility, especially at a time when George Springer, Alejandro Kirk and Joey Loperfido are dealing with physical issues and Anthony Santander and Andres Gimenez are on the injured list.
The Pirates are intriguing as sellers they could move the likes of Bryan Reynolds, Tommy Pham, Oneil Cruz, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Joey Bart, Bailey Falter, David Bednar, Dennis Santana and/or Taylor Rogers.
With hours left in the deadline it will be very interesting to see what moves Ross Atkins makes. Fingers crossed.
Source: Sportsnet
Previously on Blue Jays Central
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 31 | 174 ANSWERS It's Deadline Day! What to watch for from the Toronto Blue Jays What do you think Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins will trade for today? | ||
| Starting Pitcher | 51 | 29.3 % |
| High-leverage reliever | 31 | 17.8 % |
| Big bat | 18 | 10.3 % |
| All of the above | 74 | 42.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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