TORONTO — Toronto Blue Jays righty Kevin Gausman’s name has increasingly come up in trade rumours as the team’s season continues to fall off the rails.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that Gausman’s eight-team no-trade list includes a couple of teams expected to be buyers at this year’s trade deadline on Aug. 3.
Per Rosenthal, Gausman can block a trade to the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and Seattle Mariners.
Of those eight, it would be considered a surprise if the Mets, Reds, Pirates or Tigers got involved in negotiations to acquire the two-time All-Star, as those teams are sitting on the outskirts of contention and Gausman’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season.
The Brewers - who have been figuring out how to restrict star righty Jacob Misiorowski’s workload down the stretch and are already missing DL Hall, Brandon Woodruff and Kyle Harrison from the rotation due to various injuries - could be an intriguing team as they sit second in the National League standings at 63-38.
Gausman struggled at the Rogers Centre on Tuesday, allowing five runs — four earned — on nine hits and two walks over 3.1 innings as Toronto fell to the Tampa Bay Rays 12-2. He hoped that that performance was not his last one in Toronto for the home side after spending the past five seasons with the Blue Jays.
“Not a great lasting impression,” said Gausman. “I’m not going to think about that too much because I’m a Blue Jay right now, and the focus is this team and this room and those guys. That’s where my mind’s at right now.
“But yeah, that is kind of crazy to think about.”
Gausman signed a five-year, $110 million deal with Toronto on Dec. 21, 2021 and has been one of the Blue Jays most reliable starters for five seasons. He has a 52-50 record in that span with a 3.60 earned-run average and 910 strikeouts.
The 35-year-old right-hander has scuffled to a 4-9 record and 4.51 ERA this season with 117 strikeouts. Despite those struggles, Gausman could be an attractive addition for a contending team.
“I think it’s impossible to ignore nowadays with social media,” said Gausman about Toronto’s struggles with the deadline looming. “We kind of all know it’s going on, and, unfortunately, we knew we kind of needed to come out of the gate strong, and we really haven’t.
“We just haven’t played very well lately.”
Less than a year removed from reaching Game 7 of the World Series, it appears that Toronto will be a seller at the trade deadline.
The Blue Jays (46-55) have lost three in a row and are fifth in the American League East, six games out of a wild-card berth. Toronto’s 400 runs scored are the fewest in MLB.
Gausman said some of the Blue Jays’ offensive struggles are simply due to bad luck.
“Feels like every hard-hit ball on our side is right at somebody, and maybe on the other side not so much,” said Gausman, who could potentially start on Aug. 1 in Toronto against the St. Louis Cardinals, if the Blue Jays have not traded him or rest him to protect a potential deal. “We just haven’t been playing very clean baseball, you know, especially on the defensive side.
“I think the guys are putting pressure on themselves in the batter’s box, and the pitching in this league is really good, so it’s hard.”
Manager John Schneider couldn’t hide his disappointment after the lopsided loss to the American East-leading Rays (58-42). Tampa Bay outhit Toronto 21-7 and could have done even more damage, leaving 11 runners on base.
“You’re trying to just piece things, piece innings, together,” said Schneider. “Try to stay in it as much as you can without jeopardizing things moving forward.
“It was a frustrating day from the get-go.”
