The Winds of Change
Are Starting to Blow Part 5
We’re back with the second half of our trade preview taking
a look at two more contenders and the moves they should be looking to make.
Today we take a look at two teams on opposite sides of the spectrum recently in
the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays. Pittsburgh has been one of the
hottest teams in baseball climbing back into contention for a wild card spot
and their second straight playoff appearance. Toronto on the other hand came
out of the gate firing, jumping out ahead of the pack thanks in large part to
Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, and Mark Buehrle. Lately however, they have
cooled down considerably and have allowed even last place Tampa and Boston to
be within 8.5 and 9 games respectively. Buehrle has come back down to Earth
hard over his last 8 or so starts and with the injury over the weekend to Edwin
Encarnacion, the hole they are digging themselves in is getting deeper. Let’s
dive in and take a look at their needs.
Toronto Blue Jays
Positives- Power. Jose
Reyes has remained healthy since coming off the DL.
Negatives- Depth. 2nd
base production.
The Blue Jays can thank their hot start for keeping them in
the race right now and ahead of the pack but they are in desperate need of a
move or they will soon be looking up at multiple teams. They have been linked
lately to Chase Headley of the Padres and he is the exact type of guy they need
to bring in. Putting him at third base will allow Brett Lawrie to stay at
second as opposed to shifting back and forth based on matchups, but the caveat
is that Lawrie has to stay healthy which has become a problem for him. They
could also look to a guy like Aaron Hill and bring him back to Toronto to play
second, allowing Lawrie to stay at third. The Jays could also look to add a
starter into the rotation. They wouldn’t necessarily need an ace like David
Price but if they could pick up an A.J. Burnett or Ian Kennedy type pitcher it
would help them tremendously. Dickey is too inconsistent, Morrow is always
hurt, Buehrle will give you the innings and consistent starts but his numbers
have dipped. The Jays will be leaning on Marcus Stroman and Drew Hutchinson to
guide them in the second half but as their innings load increases there’s no
telling how their performance will respond. Toronto is the team in most
desperate need of a move and better hope they make the right one or else the
playoffs will be beyond the horizon and out of sight once again.
Other options to consider: Bartolo Colon (NYM), Martin Prado
(ARZ).
Positives- Andrew McCutchen performing as well as he did
during his MVP season last year. Emergence of Gregory Polanco in the outfield
and at the plate.
Negatives- Pitching
(Both starters and bullpen).
The Pirates started out slow but since May are tied with Oakland
for the best record in baseball. With arguably the best outfield in baseball,
Pittsburgh has enough offense to stay in the race and push forward. Pitching
wise they need some improvement. Jeff Locke and Vance Worley have pitched well
since coming up from the minors and they should be getting Francisco Liriano
back soon. Add in the fact that Gerrit Cole should hopefully have a better
second half than he did first half and they don’t need to make a huge
improvement to the staff. They’ve already made an embattled closer trade with
the Angels shipping Jason Grilli to Anaheim for Ernesto Frieri but they could
definitely use one more right handed reliever. I don’t see them going after one
of the bigger names as far as starters go so I would rule out David Price or
Jon Lester coming to the Steel City.
Other options to consider: A.J. Burnett (PHI) coming back
again, Ian Kennedy (SD), Chad Qualls (HOU).
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