TORONTO – Each passing day of lost ground brings more clarity to the Toronto Blue Jays’ path as the Aug. 3 trade deadline approaches, nudging them from hopes of a season-saving surge to the uncomfortable realities of a subtraction summer.
Absent financial pressure to move payroll, what they do and how far down that road they go depends on what’s available in return. They don’t need to make deals just for the sake of them. Still, based on this front office’s past sell-offs, most recently in 2024, they’re likely to try moving all expiring contracts and consider other opportunities, a tactical shift rather than a wider strategic change aimed at improving the foundation for the buildups to come.
Those considerations will hang over each outing until the deadline passes, which is what made Kevin Gausman’s 3.1 innings of grind especially notable in a 12-2 thumping by the Tampa Bay Rays that felt like a new low point Tuesday night.
Even in an up-and-down season for the veteran right-hander, he may well be the Blue Jays’ most marketable pending free agent given his longevity and post-season pedigree. In what’s trending toward a sellers’ market, leverage that could change as more teams pick a lane, starters should be an especially coveted commodity.
Knowing they’ll need starters for next season, exploring an extension for Gausman would make sense for the Blue Jays. But with the collective bargaining agreement expiring Dec. 1, a difficult lockout expected to follow, and owners seeking a restrictive salary cap, what does such a deal look like for the 35-year-old, especially with game’s ground rules potentially in flux?
All of which raised the possibility that Tuesday’s outing, a rough nine-hit, five-run, four-earned slog against a relentless Rays team that’s reminiscent of last year’s Blue Jays, might be Gausman’s last in Toronto. His next turn comes up Sunday at Boston followed by Aug. 1 at home to St. Louis, and if the Blue Jays do commit to the sell path, maybe he’s traded by then, or perhaps held back, just in case.
Whatever happens, Gausman will have some control over the process, as his $110-million, five-year deal includes limited no trade protection for up to eight clubs. George Springer, who singled and doubled as his at-bats continue to improve, has full no-trade rights as a player with 10 years of service time and five straight with the same team, while Max Scherzer was also given a no-trade clause in his one-year deal this spring.
That trio, along with other pending free agents like Daulton Varsho and Shane Bieber, can raise or lower their stock between now and the deadline, which adds another dimension to each outing.
Given extra rest coming out of the all-star break, Gausman got worked for a 12-pitch lineout by Yandy Diaz to start the game, but went walk, double, two-run single by Jonny DeLuca, and RBI single by Chandler Simpson before escaping the inning after 38 pitches. After a couple of zeroes, he had two on with one out in the fourth when manager John Schneider came to get him, Gausman walking off head down as some in the crowd of 42,881, perhaps recognizing the possibilities, applauded him.
His fastball velocity ticked up in his final outing before the break, sitting 95.1 m.p.h. while touching 97, but he was back down to 93.8 m.p.h. against the Rays, topping out at 96.
Before the game, Schneider said Gausman “needed (the extra rest) more than anyone, kind of a little breather after last year and this year. Hopefully it’s good for him. Hopefully he comes out good heater, good stuff. Need a good outing from him for sure. But he was one of the guys we targeted to kind of get a little bit extra rest.”
Right now, nothing seems to help for the Blue Jays, who at 46-55 are a season-worst nine games under .500. Things got so bleak that when Patrick Corbin couldn’t escape a ninth highlighted by a three-run homer to Yandy Diaz, Schneider brought in Myles Straw from left field for a mid-inning pitching change that forced Ernie Clement to left as Luis Urias came in off the bench to play second.
While Straw getting two outs gave fans something to celebrate, a three-way change to get a position player in the mound at the end of a rout says a lot about where the Blue Jays are right now. They’re firmly on the path to the type of subtraction they’re so desperately hoping to avoid.