Former MLB Exec Shares Favorite Toronto Blue Jays Trade Deadline Target
The Toronto Blue Jays are playing some excellent baseball as one of the hottest teams in the MLB.
Their offense, which has been dormant for most of the season, has begun coming alive in recent weeks, which has helped put Toronto well above .500.
The Blue Jays are within striking distance of the New York Yankees in the American League East standings, and hold one of the American League's three Wild Card playoff spots.
If they are going to remain in the playoff mix and challenge the Yankees for the division title, some upgrades will need to be made ahead of the trade deadline.
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There are a few holes in the team’s lineup currently, but the most glaring need, in the opinion of Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required), is on the mound, specifically the starting rotation.
The Blue Jays signed Max Scherzer in free agency to help bolster the rotation, but he was injured in his first start of the campaign and has yet to get back on a Major League mound.
Bowden Francis, after showing some promising signs in 2024, has regressed.
The No. 5 spot has been a revolving door with seven players, including Scherzer, making a start behind Bowden, Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios and Kevin Gausman.
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Toronto has a strong three-man mix anchoring the staff, but they need to fill out the depth behind them to keep up this level of play throughout the regular season.
With a front office looking to be aggressive, the time to strike on a deal is now for the Blue Jays.
Where could they look for rotation help?
Bowden has listed Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly as his favorite trade target for the team ahead of the deadline.
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“He will be a free agent after this season, so it would be a rental for the Blue Jays. If the Diamondbacks decide to sell, they could acquire a couple of mid-level prospects in exchange and then in the offseason look to re-sign Kelly, who prefers to finish his career with Arizona,” the former MLB executive wrote.
Kelly would be the perfect addition to this Toronto pitching staff.
He has been a consistent source of positive production over the last three seasons and has been excellent again in 2025. With ERAs of 3.37, 3.29 and 4.03 over the last three seasons, while sporting a 3.18 mark this year, he has flown under the radar, averaging 2.97 bWAR over that span.
He is on pace to surpass the 30-start plateau for the third time in four seasons, providing the team with the kind of durability it has lacked beyond its top three starters.
Since he would be a rental, it wouldn’t cost a ton to acquire him either, enabling the team to retain their top prospects for a potentially bigger splash this offseason.
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