The Blue Jays could use a starter.
The Toronto Blue Jays own the best record in Major League Baseball. After a slow start to 2025, the Blue Jays have opened up a 5 1/2-game lead in the American League East over the New York Yankees.
After selling at last year's deadline, the Blue Jays will be taking a far different approach this year. They'll be adding rather than subtracting.
One area of need is their starting rotation. They could use an extra arm to create more separation in the AL East.
Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan of ESPN listed some of the top trade candidates. Among them was right-hander Merrill Kelly, and the Blue Jays were considered a fit.
"Kelly doesn't have big raw stuff, posting the second-lowest average fastball velocity (92.1 mph) among pitchers with 125 innings pitched this season. His changeup is his best pitch by a wide margin, and he gets by with location and off-speed stuff. He was a stalwart in the Diamondbacks' run to the 2023 World Series, striking out 28 in 24 innings with a 2.25 ERA."
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Kelly is putting together a strong season with Arizona, having gone 9-6 with a 3.22 ERA and 3.2 WAR in 22 starts. He also has fanned 121 batters over 128 2/3 innings of work.
The 36-year-old right-hander is in the final year of his contract and will enter free agency this coming offseason. The Diamondbacks have already committed to selling, having traded both Randal Grichuk and Josh Naylor in the past week.
The Blue Jays might have to cough up some prospects to get a deal done, as rental pitching always comes at a premium at the trade deadline. However, it might be worth it to put themselves in position to run away from the rest of the AL East.
Kelly is an innings-eater and can be trusted to start big games, having helped guide Arizona to the World Series in 2023. It will be interesting to see where the right-hander ends up.
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Category: Baseball
