An Early Look At The Blue Jays' Trade Deadline Needs

All stats are prior to the June 24 game.

With the trade deadline a month away, the Toronto Blue Jays find themselves 8.5 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East, but have a game lead for the last Wild Card spot. The Blue Jays' unexpectedly slow start isn’t only performance-based; injuries in the first half of the season have also decimated them. 

The starting rotation has seen José Berríos and Bowden Francis undergo Tommy John surgery, Cody Ponce tear his ACL in his first start, and Max Scherzer has already made two injury list stints this season, but has been abysmal in his six starts. Luckily, Shane Bieber made his season debut on June 23; however, the depth is depleted. 

That makes starting pitching a must-need to target at the trade deadline. Ross Atkins has already stated in a recent media interview that “he likes the current group, but has interest in more because you can never have enough starters." The good thing about how the standings look now is that it may be a seller's market. 

Speaking to media at Rogers Centre, Ross Atkins says starting pitching is likely atop Blue Jays’ wish list at the trade deadline. Atkins says he likes Jays’ current group but has interest in more because you can never have enough starters.

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) June 23, 2026

Many division leaders already have a sizeable lead, and though the Wild Card looks congested, teams likely won’t want to be buyers chasing a Wild Card spot with so many teams vying. The Blue Jays don’t need a Tarik Skubal-type front-end starter; they need a back-end inning eater that can be productive. 

They’ve shown in the past a preference for targeting controllable pitchers, which makes the Los Angeles Angels’ Reid Detmers a name to watch. He turns 27 a few weeks before the trade deadline and is under team control through the 2028 season.

Another trade-deadline need is a power bat. Anthony Santander needed left shoulder labral surgery late in the offseason, which will keep him out until possibly late September or October. Though he struggled, hitting only six home runs over an injury-plagued 2025 season, the Blue Jays were hoping he’d be healthy and would show a glimpse of his 2024 form. That season, Santander hit 44 home runs with the Baltimore Orioles.

Not having Santander isn’t the only issue for the Blue Jays, who rank 22nd in home runs. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is going through a massive power drought with only four long balls through 318 plate appearances. His barrel percentage (6.9 percent) is a career low, and his 42.9 percent hard-hit rate is his lowest since Vladdy’s 2019 rookie season.

Kazuma Okamoto is the only Blue Jay to have more than nine homers. His 17 is nine more than the second-best total from George Springer. There are five players with seven home runs, but everyone else has fewer than five. Addressing the power deficiency would greatly help a team that also ranks 22nd in runs per game (4.14). 

ESPN insider Jeff Passan has linked Toronto to a few different sluggers, who would add an instant boost. He has predicted a connection to CJ Abrams, who is under team control through the 2028 season; Willson Contreras, who is signed through the 2027 season with a club option for 2028; and Christian Walker, who is under contract through the 2027 season. 

Abrams and Contreras would be the ideal power threats to target because their team control exceeds 2027 when there’s a threat of a lockout, depending on how the Collective Bargaining Agreement is handled during the offseason. One thing is for sure: the Blue Jays need improvements at the trade deadline if they want to make another deep postseason run.