The Toronto Blue Jays are open to moving stud reliever Tyler Rogers ahead of the August 3 MLB trade deadline.
The Blue Jays are 50-59 with three games to go until the deadline. They are in last place in the American League East and are 5.5 GB of the final AL Wild Card spot, and would have to leapfrog six other teams to jump into a playoff spot.
With that in mind, Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins is likely to sell at this year’s deadline instead of buy, a shocking turnaround for a Toronto team that went to the World Series last season.
If the Blue Jays do trade their players, then they have several relievers who could be of interest to contenders, including Rogers, who is in the midst of a terrific first season in Toronto.
Toronto Open to Trading Tyler Rogers
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, while the Blue Jays will not trade All-Star closer Louis Varland, anyone else in the team’s bullpen is available in a trade, including Rogers, who has been lights out for Toronto this season.
“The biggest return would come if the Blue Jays made closer Louis Varland available. They’ve told teams that’s not happening. You can have Rogers and Jeff Hoffman — both with big contracts and FIPs of 2.80 or lower. You can have more controllable arms such as Mason Fluharty and Rule 5 pick Spencer Miles. Varland would bring a monster haul, but with its core returning, Toronto sees this more as a dreadful season than a sign of things to come and plans to redouble its efforts going into next year,” Passan wrote.
With a 1.69 ERA in 50 appearances this season while already racking up 1.2 bWAR in a set-up role, Rogers has been one of the most underrated relievers in baseball this season.
But with the Blue Jays unlikely to make the playoffs, it makes sense that they would be open to dealing Rogers if they feel like they can get back some prospects that can help the team in the future.
Tyler Rogers Is on a Sweetheart Contract
Rogers signed a three-year, $37 million contract with Toronto during this past offseason that is looking like a major steal right now given how effective he has been for Toronto.
Yes, he doesn’t get many strikeouts, and yes, he doesn’t throw hard. But he’s effective with his submarine style of pitching, and he’s proven that he can get outs at the highest level of the game.
With that in mind, any contender that is heading to the playoffs would love to have someone like Rogers in their bullpen, as he would be a terrific set-up man for any playoff contender.
Since Rogers still has two more seasons left on his contract, the team isn’t in a rush to trade him by any means. But if another team offers the Blue Jays a trade that they can’t refuse, then Toronto’s front office would seriously have to consider moving him if they were offered the right package in return for him.
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