MLB Trade Rumours: Blue Jays targeting pitching

With the MLB Trade Deadline set to pass on July 31, TSN.ca keeps you up to date on all the latest rumours from the league.

Blue Jays seeking pitching help, possibly under-the-radar names

Sitting with the best record (63-43) in the majors entering play on Monday, the Toronto Blue Jays are set to be buyers at the trade deadline as they gear up for a playoff run.

Per MLB.com's Keegan Matheson, the team is looking for pitching - ideally multiple pitchers.

The Blue Jays have need of rotation arms and bullpen arms. Beyond their top three starting trio of Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt, nine different pitchers have combined to fil the remaining two rotation spots. Eric Lauer has been brilliant in his 10 starts, and has a 2.61 earned-run average on the season, but injury concerns exist for Max Scherzer (seven starts) and Bowden Francis (14 starts, on the injured list with a shoulder impingement).

Toronto ranks seventh in the majors in bullpen ERA (3.66), but closer Jeff Hoffman has been inconsistent in his first season with the team, carrying a 4.78 ERA with four blown saves in 28 chances.

Matheson notes that the team is well positioned on all fronts to make moves to upgrade the pitching staff: "Some teams have '25 money, some teams have '26 money, some teams have MLB-level talent and some have legitimate prospects. Toronto has all of it," Matheson wrote in a post on X.

Could Giants put former All-Star Camilo Doval on the market?

The trade deadline has been historically dominated by pitching, but this year's relief market has been slow to develop with the trade deadline just three days away.

Enter the San Francisco Giants and flamethrowing righty Camilo Doval.

The Giants enter play Monday three games out of the final wild-card slot in the National League, and are still viewed as buyers around the league despite struggling to a 2-7 mark since the All-Star break.

One strength the Giants own is their bullpen, ranking second in the majors in earned-run average and first in WHIP. The emergence of All-Star reliever Randy Rodriguez, who owns a 1.20 ERA with 62 strikeouts over 45 innings, paired with the dependable Tyler Rogers (1.48 ERA) and lefty Erik Miller (1.50 ERA) has given the Giants a formidable trio of bullpen arms.

According to Will Sammon and Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic, Doval would fetch a large return, as he's pitching to a 3.22 ERA at age 27, is under team control until 2027 and possesses elite velocity.

Two teams out of the American League Central were assumed to be the biggest sellers on the relief front - both the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians are facing a steep climb to enter the AL wild-card picture and each have two elite relief arms that would command a big return.

However, progress has been slow, with rival executives reportedly viewing the Twins and Guardians as difficult to strike deals with. The Giants may be able to kickstart the market by dealing out of a position of strength.

While baseball waits on Diamondbacks' Suarez trade, another third base option could emerge

Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez is the top bat on the market, with the team fading out of contention due to a bevy of injures on the pitching side and first baseman Josh Naylor already having been traded to the Seattle Mariners last week.

Suarez is set to become a free agent at season's end and has clubbed 36 homers on the year, good for fourth-most in the majors.

But MLB.com's Mark Feinsand reports that another third baseman, Nolan Arenado, is drawing interest from numerous clubs.

The future Hall-of-Famer and eight-time All-Star was heavily involved in trade discussions at last year's deadline, but the difficult factor in a potential deal is the veteran's full no-trade clause - which he used to block a trade the Cardinals had agreed to with the Houston Astros in the off-season.

Arenado's hitting has declined since his glory days with the Colorado Rockies, but the 34-year-old has hit 10 home runs this season, is still a premium glove at third base and hit .275 over 27 games in June - showing he can be a productive bat when he gets hot.

He is hitting just .174 in July, but Feinsand notes that teams interested in Suarez could pivot to Arenado if they miss out on the Diamondbacks star.

Rockies more likely to trade arms than bats

The Colorado Rockies (27-78) are the worst team in baseball by a wide margin, and are predictably selling at the deadline to try to jumpstart their farm system. 

When a team threatens to break the all-time record for most losses in a season, as the Rockies have been at times this year (they're on pace to lose 120 games entering Monday, which would fall one loss short of the worst record in the modern era), an important problem presents itself: how many players on this roster are contending teams interested in adding?

Feinsand reports that teams have reached out about All-Star catcher/outfielder Hunter Goodman and centre fielder Brenton Doyle, but the Rockies are highly unlikely to move either player.

Multiple reports indicate that the Rockies are listening to offers on relievers Victor Vodnik, Jake Bird and Seth Halvorsen.

“I don’t know if Colorado will trade any or all of them, but they can all help teams now and in the future,” one AL scout said, per Feinsand. “Halvorsen and Vodnik have electric arms.”

Vodnik has a 3.00 earned-run average over 31 games, while Halvorsen owns a 4.89 ERA with 10 saves in 40 appearances.

Vodnik's fastball has averaged 98.5 miles per hour, while Halvorsen's fastball regularly eclipses 100 mph - only Mason Miller and Jhoan Duran have a higher average fastball velocity.

Bird has a 4-1 record and a 4.05 ERA over 44 games this year. All three players are under the age of 30 and each are available with multiple years of club control, giving the Rockies three valuable options to offer in a slow-developing market.