MLB trade rumors: 5 players the Blue Jays should acquire

5. Mike Minor

Having fully abandoned pitching out of the rotation after years of health struggles, Mike Minor is dominating in the bullpen this year for the Kansas City Royals. A brief run of wins has the Royals closer to the fringes of playoff contention, but should not alter their plans to auction off key pieces of the roster at the trade deadline. If Kansas City does head into a rebuild, picking up Minor’s $10-million option for 2018 would not seem to be extremely high on their list of priorities.

In his first season as a reliever, Minor has a 2.12 ERA in 28 appearances and 34.0 innings pitched. He has allowed only one home runs on the year and is holding opponents to a .192/.260/.275 line. Minor has struck out close to a batter an inning while also limiting walks. It has been a very good year for the 29-year-old pitcher, who had not pitched at the MLB level since 2014 when he went 6-12 with a 4.77 ERA in 25 starts.

Minor mostly throws a four-seam fastball and a cutter with the occasional changeup or breaking ball mixed in. His fastball has heavy vertical drop and hitters have been unable to do anything but beat it into the ground. Minor has allowed a minuscule .205 slugging percentage on his four-seamer this year. He could be a relatively low-cost option for the Jays if they look to beef up their bullpen.