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MLB Rumors: Toronto Blue Jays are actively shopping Drew Storen

By David Rouben

May 4, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Drew Storen (45) throws a pitch during the eighth inning in a game against the Texas Rangers at Rogers Centre. The Toronto Blue Jays won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
May 4, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Drew Storen (45) throws a pitch during the eighth inning in a game against the Texas Rangers at Rogers Centre. The Toronto Blue Jays won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Toronto Blue Jays are trying to improve their bullpen by shopping offseason acquisition Drew Storen.

In an ironic twist of fate, the Toronto Blue Jays are looking to improve on their bullpen woes by trading Drew Storen – someone they acquired in the offseason in an attempt to strengthen their pen.

Bob Elliott was the first to report the news, and even stated that there were scouts from multiple teams on hand to take in the Blue Jays’ 9-3 win over the Minnesota Twins. Storen appeared in that game and pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but the game was well out of reach at that point.

It was expected that Storen and Roberto Osuna would compete for the closer role throughout the season, but so far Osuna has won that race outright as Storen has gotten off to a rotten start. According to FanGraphs, in 18 appearances, he has a 7.80 ERA to go along with a 1.73 WHIP. Set up as the middle reliever in the Jays lineup, he’s already had two meltdowns.

Then again, it’s not like the Jays had any long term plans for him anyway, as he was set to become a free agent at the end of the season. However, they expected more out of him, and he’s so far failed to deliver.

The Jays should’ve seen this coming when Storen started out last season as the Washington Nationals’ closer then saw his stats take a huge dive when he became the setup man for Jonathan Papelbon. A lot of people chalked that up to Papelbon being a nuisance in the Nationals’ dugout, but nosedives like that shouldn’t be chalked up to external factors.

Storen has had good seasons with the Nationals though, and is a capable reliever, so as long as he’s in the right environment, hopefully he’ll be able to land on his feet again.

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