Blue Jays' path to win AL East involves trading for this veteran pitcher

Billy Heyen

Blue Jays' path to win AL East involves trading for this veteran pitcher image

The Toronto Blue Jays are atop the AL East despite at-times shaky pitching.

This is the perfect time of year to try and fix that. The MLB trade deadline is fast approaching, and sellers will have pitching available.

ESPN's David Schoenfield doesn't think Toronto will land one of the biggest names.

Instead, he writes that the Blue Jays will end up trading for Diamondbacks righty Merrill Kelly.

"The Blue Jays just keep winning, despite a rotation that ranks in the bottom third in the majors in ERA (Eric Lauer has been their best starter of late)," Schoenfield writes. "We have them missing out on Lugo and Keller, in part because their farm system isn't considered particularly strong, so the final domino on our list is Kelly going to Toronto. Passan had good reasoning as to why the Diamondbacks would be more likely to trade Kelly than Gallen. Both are free agents, but Arizona could look to re-sign the older (and thus less expensive) Kelly in the offseason while keeping Gallen and giving him a qualifying offer to recoup a draft pick if he leaves as a free agent."

MORE: Edwin Diaz is MLB's best pitcher since learning his legs were different lengths

Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle