Toronto Blue Jays: Trade Deadline Strategies and Playoff Hopes

I will say that I do think there'll be like a trade or two before Tom and I are back here next Sunday ahead of the trade deadline. It's just that the standings are not moving all that much five, seven days at a time. They're not. And that's simple and plain. We kind of know who a few of the playoff teams are going to be, but the wildcard folks is going to go right down to the end. So that gives credence to teams like the Toronto Blue Jays, who Tom have had an awful season. I mean, there's no other way to put it. They're last in baseball in hitting, and that's not going to change with one or two players, but they have a high payroll. They were inches short of winning the World Series last year, and now I think they got to do their due diligence and listen and see, you know, can they get better for this year? Can they get better for next year? Kevin Gossman's name, Dalton Varshow's name. I think Shane Bieber will be a player that will be talked about a little bit. I think the Blue Jays are going to take this right down to the deadline, Tom. There'd be no other reason not to, because what happens if they win five in a row between now and next Sunday? Or what happens if they lose five in a row between now and next Sunday? So I really don't have a clear-cut answer on Toronto. I can see this, and George Springer is another expiring contract too. I can see this going either way. I cannot tell you unequivocally what the Blue Jays will do next week. What we're seeing is that the Blue Jays or any other team, to your point for the standings not moving, is a team wins two of three. Okay, they're going to be moving up the standings, but a team that they're chasing also just won two of three, so therefore nothing changes when it's all said and done. What the Blue Jays have available, and at least according to these rumors, they need to be considering to move those four players, and I think they need to move at least two of them. That would be Gossman, Varshow, Bieber, and Springer. Move two of those four players. You're not completely tearing it down for next year. You'll still have a solid core, solid team to build around. You add a few more pieces. You alleviate some salary, whatever it might be, and I think they'll be in a good spot to rebound next year, but where they sit right now, I think it's just a bit too much, and yeah, they could still be four games out as they're five and a half right now. They could still be four games out come next Sunday and still be kind of in the mix and say, oh, do we want to entirely give up? No, but you're also not in a spot to make these massive moves that are going to leap you ahead of those other teams because, Craig, if they make no moves and they carry this exact roster through the final 60 days or so of the season, they're not going to make the playoffs, right, and they're also not going to be making these big swings that are going to put them over the hump, so I see this as a spot you need to move two of those four players and at least do something.