The Toronto Blue Jays have done what they’ve needed to do in recent games, winning five straight. The Blue Jays defeated the Texas Rangers in their final game of a three-game set, securing the series win. The Blue Jays then hosted the Athletics, sweeping them in four games. The Athletics have been one of the worst teams in baseball recently, but they’re still a decent team, and sweeping them in four games is impressive.
But there are still questions about what the Blue Jays will do at the trade deadline. Sitting at 31-28 and five games out in the American League East, Toronto has to continue to play its best baseball if it wants any chance to make the postseason.
Should Blue Jays Embrace Being Sellers Already?
If the Toronto Blue Jays don’t continue to play as they have over their past five games, some believe the team will consider selling.
One name that continues to pop up is right-hander Chris Bassitt, who Blue Jays Nation believes the team should move on from.
The idea was simple: if the Blue Jays struggle and don’t have a chance to make the postseason in the next few weeks to months, keeping Bassitt when they can get a massive return for a starter, which they saw last year with Yusei Kikuchi, would be a massive issue.
“But if this season goes sideways in the next month or two? Whoo boy, that changes everything. With so few sellers on the market, there may not be many difference-makers on the market. Among rental starting pitchers, there’s Luis Severino, Andrew Heaney, Zach Eflin and Tyler Anderson. Not exactly a murderer’s row of starters…
“But if we reconvene in four to six weeks and the Blue Jays haven’t gained any ground in the standings or have tumbled down even further in the Wild Card chase, then all bets are off. Some tough conversations may be on the horizon in the Blue Jays’ front office related to their veteran starting pitchers like Bassitt.”
Could Blue Jays Receive Anything of Value?
Bassitt was great to start the year, perhaps throwing the baseball better than ever in certain outings. However, he now owns a 3.80 ERA for the Toronto Blue Jays, giving up 10 earned runs in his last two outings.
As Zachary Rotman of Fansided noted, the veteran isn’t an ace by any means, but he has the ability to eat innings. He’s thrown in at least 30 games over the past three years, and is well on track to hit that number again this year. Even if he continues to regress, there’s value int reading for him.
“Chris Bassitt has struggled a bit in May, but has still been one of, if not the best starter the Jays have turned to this season, posting a 3.38 ERA in 11 starts and 61.1 innings of work. The Jays might be under .500 overall, but they’ve gone 6-5 in Bassitt’s starts.
“He’s not an ace, but this right-hander is as dependable a mid-rotation arm as there is. He doesn’t have the best stuff in the world, and has only two games with more than seven strikeouts this season, but he will consistently give his team a chance to win every fifth day. He can make any rotation better,” Rotman wrote.
Even if another team views Bassit as a fourth or fifth starter, or someone to eat innings, there’s value in getting a few prospects back for him.
The Blue Jays are in a position where they need as much help as they can get, and Bassitt could be one of the players who helps them achieve that.
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