A's Should Target Blue Jays Pitching in Trade Amid Injury Woes

The A's and Toronto Blue Jays could end up helping each other out. The Jays are dealing with a plethora of injuries at the moment, with George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, Addison Barger and Anthony Santander all on the IL at the moment. Those are some key bats for Toronto, and in last night's game, Daulton Varsho was pulled in the third inning with left knee discomfort.

Over the past three games they've scored five total runs, and by and large, since the A's left town to open up the season, the big hit has eluded them for much of their subsequent series.

While the pitching has been up and down as well, leading to wins by the score of 9-7 and 10-4 in the past week, that group is a little healthier at the moment and will be getting big-time reinforcements shortly as Trey Yesavage and José Berríos near returns.

They could use an extra bat, and they have shown that they're after a certain type in two recent trades, bringing in Tyler Fitzgerald, who has since been optioned to make room for another trade piece, Lenyn Sosa.

The A's trade piece

While there are certainly depth reasons for keeping him in the green and gold, Andy Ibáñez has only started three games this season, and since April 9 he's racked up a total of two at-bats. Part of this is because he's a hitter that excels against left-handers, and the A's just haven't faced many lefties.

At the same time, he's struggling overall, batting just .143 with a .200 OBP in 14 at-bats this season. Obviously that doesn't sound great for Toronto either, but there are a couple of reasons that he may be a fit given the circumstances.

First up, he originally signed with the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers this offseason, before being designated for assignment and picked up by the A's. While what we have seen is Ibàñez being a great teammate, that is a big jump in expectation levels to go from the Dodgers to a Triple-A ballpark in Sacramento. Landing with Toronto could be a solid motivator.

The other reason is that while Ibáñez can be a nice depth piece for the A's, the Jays are a team that is trying to make another run this season, while the A's are attempting to reach the postseason. Those are two slightly different goals, though they both include October baseball.

Putting together a deal

With his lack of usage in the early going, it could make sense for the A's to look to move him to another club in need of a role player, like Toronto, in exchange for an arm. The A's offense should be fine this season, but their pitching has some holes that will need to be addressed on the fly. This could be a way to add a veteran to their bullpen mix.

The upper echelon of what the A's could be after here would be a lefty like Brendon Little, who has tremendous stuff but difficulty with location. Last season in 68 1/3 innings, he struck out 30.8% of the hitters he faced, and walked 15.3% en route to a 3.03 ERA. This season he posted a 24.55 ERA to begin the year and was optioned to Buffalo a couple of weeks back.

He has yet to allow a run in five minor-league innings since the demotion.

The only issue here is that he's not even arbitration eligible yet, and that will come following the 2027 campaign, with free agency after the 2031 season. He's also 29 years old, and relievers are volatile, so there is no guarantee that team control matters.

The other option for the A's to consider would be veteran Joe Mantiply, 35, who is another high stuff, low location left-hander. The difference being that Mantiply will be a free agent following the season and that he's currently on Toronto's 26-man roster.

Mantiply has posted a 4.76 ERA (3.87 FIP) in 5 2/3 innings this season with the Jays and has an early strikeout rate of 37.5%. The A's could use another left-hander in the bullpen to pair with Hogan Harris, and this may be the way to get them that lefty.

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