It was exhausting to inform if the Toronto Blue Jays’ 2024 season was a fluke or the start of a dark stretch of baseball in The 6. A myriad of issues advised that the latter was extra seemingly. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was seemingly ready to enter free company, Chris Bassitt and Kevin Gausman had been each racking up appreciable mileage on their respective proper arms, the lineup seemed too star-dependent and the bullpen was a multitude. Many followers had been bracing themselves for an official collapse.
However that is why you play the video games. Toronto has been considered one of MLB’s finest groups since late Could and at present holds a four-and-a-half-game lead within the American League East. The Blue Jays (61-42) haven’t simply averted a grisly destiny. In opposition to all odds, they’re trying like a mannequin group within the yr 2025. One of the simplest ways to outline this mysterious membership is to borrow an annoyingly overused but actually applicable phrase: the vibes are good.
And that’s saying one thing, as a result of they’ve certain been examined. Guerrero, who initially set a contract extension deadline for Feb. 18, started the season and not using a deal. He put pen to paper in April, committing to the franchise for one more 14 years. Notable free company acquisitions Anthony Santander, Max Scherzer and Jeff Hoffman have been flops, whether or not or not it’s due to efficiency, well being or each. Toronto is excelling however.
The Jays had been beneath .500 after 52 video games, and John Schneider was in a weak spot. Some even predicted a possible midseason firing. Now, they personal the perfect document within the AL, and Schneider is a sleeper for Supervisor of the Yr honors. With a top-five payroll and ample expertise, that is not at all a rag-tag bunch. Nonetheless, this group was drowning in dangerous optics, perceived as a determined underachiever that might not safe any of its high free-agent decisions.
Toronto has plowed via the persistent criticism, an all the time taxing division and a slew of ongoing damage issues. I’ll say in regards to the Blue Jays what Lou Grant instructed Mary Richards roughly 55 years in the past. This ballclub has spunk. But it surely may nonetheless use some extra pitching.
Regardless of the good job this group has finished overcoming frequent setbacks, one doesn’t typically survive a scarcity of depth within the beginning rotation in the course of the month of October.
Kevin Gausman has a 4.00-plus ERA, Jose Berrios and Chris Bassitt have each been streaky this yr and Max Scherzer is sort of 41 years outdated. Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller comes along with his personal questions, however what he can probably provide is further insurance coverage. ESPN’s Jeff Passan lists the 2023 All-Star as a participant Toronto ought to goal forward of the MLB commerce deadline.
Is that this an excellent match for Blue Jays?
Figuring out and procuring viable beginning pitchers on the commerce market is changing into extra burdensome by the yr. Entrance places of work should resolve whether it is value it to pay a premium for promising hurlers who’re beneath contract or go for a extra reasonably priced arm that brings significantly much less upside. Merely making strikes shouldn’t be sufficient. Followers will see via any superficial gesture that’s designed to appease them fairly than genuinely improve their group’s title probabilities.
Keller is considerably of a blended bag, a commerce deadline candidate who lacks the sizzle issue however may occupy a stable place within the rotation for a number of years. His wage, which is $15.4 million in 2025, will soar to $16.9 million subsequent yr, $18.4 million in 2027 after which wrap up at $20.4 million in 2028. With 151 profession begins already beneath his belt, the 29-year-old is unlikely to acquire ace standing. Any potential suitors need to mood expectations in relation to his ceiling.
Nonetheless, former All-Stars who’re presently having fun with a career-best marketing campaign positively deserve sturdy consideration when their identify surfaces within the rumor mill. Keller might help the Blue Jays now and down the road. Absorbing a rising contract that might develop into much less interesting as time wears on is the price of doing enterprise in at this time’s age. When reaching a World Sequence turns into a conceivable objective, one shouldn’t permit future encumbrances to get in the best way.
Executing calculated dangers is how contenders acquire separation within the closing stretch. Toronto basic supervisor Ross Atkins should preserve this in thoughts as he considers all accessible routes in the course of the the rest of July. Passan is assured that Pittsburgh incorporates the highway most value taking.
“Including Keller solves a number of issues directly,” the MLB insider writes. “The Blue Jays want rotation assist — and, in a deal for Keller, may attempt to get David Bednar, Dennis Santana or Caleb Ferguson from the Pirates to enhance an already-good bullpen using breakouts from Braydon Fisher and Brendon Little.”
Mitch Keller is within the midst of a formidable stretch
The Detroit Tigers stay MLB’s feel-good story courting again to final summer time, the Houston Astros proceed to remain within the title hunt regardless of dropping one star participant after one other, the New York York Yankees are the defending American League pennant winners and the Seattle Mariners and Boston Crimson Sox are each harmful in their very own methods. Throw within the Blue Jays and you’ve got the ballclubs at present slotted within the playoffs.
It isn’t a straightforward path to cross, however there may be additionally no clear frontrunner in the intervening time. Atkins should do his finest to make sure that Toronto assumes that function going into the postseason, correctly positioning the group for its first World Sequence look since 1993. This felt too unrealistic to even label as a fantasy earlier within the yr, however now, John Schneider’s crew appears to be like able to roll.
One of the simplest ways for a franchise to achieve an edge in October is by lengthening its pitching workers. Mitch Keller can stretch out the rotation, thereby conserving a banged-up bullpen as contemporary as doable in the course of the playoffs. The 2014 second-round draft choose has a 3.53 ERA with 97 strikeouts and 30 walks via 125 innings pitched this season. He makes up for his 18.7 strikeout price by inducing floor balls 44.8 % of the time.
Most significantly, Keller is in rhythm. He has allowed simply six earned runs in 25 2/3 innings of labor in July, doing the Pirates the courtesy of elevating his commerce worth on the good time. Regardless of how the Cedar Rapids, Iowa native fares towards the San Francisco Giants in his subsequent scheduled begin, his price ticket is sure to be costly.
Toronto might need to pay a fairly penny
The offensively-needy Pirates ought to push exhausting for one of many high bats within the Blue Jays’ system. Though he’s struggling in Triple-A Buffalo, infielder Orelvis Martinez stands out as a doable possibility if Pittsburgh and Toronto full a deal for Keller. He’s the group’s third-ranked prospect and will develop into an necessary part of the Buccos’ seemingly unending rebuilding undertaking.
Assembling a commerce package deal that begins with Martinez is unquestionably expensive, particularly for somebody who would seemingly reside within the center portion of the Blue Jays’ rotation, however that’s what it takes to fortify a workers for a deep October run. These gambles regularly misfire and will even inflict long-term injury on a membership. Toronto’s circumstances are extremely distinctive, nonetheless.
This group and fan base has not skilled a postseason collection victory in 9 years. The Jays are in first place with an AL-best 37-17 document at dwelling. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, George Springer and X-factor Addison Barger are all making a powerful impression within the lineup, and the beginning rotation is loaded with expertise. All the things may be coming collectively in Toronto, as a as soon as murky marketing campaign turns stunningly vibrant.
The forecast can clearly change once more earlier than the common season concludes, however the Blue Jays might not wish to wait and see what the baseball gods have in retailer for them. They will attempt to seize maintain of their destiny on the July 31 MLB commerce deadline.