The Toronto Blue Jays have been one of MLB's hottest teams lately, winning 12 of their last 15 games to improve to 38-31 overall. That record is good for second place in the AL East and has them holding the top Wild Card spot in the American League.
There's still a long way to go, obviously, but this Jays team is firmly in the playoff mix. That's something Blue Jays fans hoped for, but didn't necessarily expect entering the year, given how poorly the 2024 campaign went.
Their strong record has the Jays in an interesting spot with the trade deadline just a month and a half away. While it remains to be seen what the Blue Jays choose to do, these five players, for various reasons, have played their way completely off the trade block with where Toronto is right now.
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5. Trey Yesavage is too promising for the Blue Jays to trade away
The Blue Jays haven't had much luck developing pitching in recent years, but the tides are turning in that regard. Trey Yesavage, their No. 2 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is a huge reason why. He looks like one of the best pitching prospects in the game.
Yesavage, a first-round pick of the Blue Jays in last year's MLB Draft, began his professional career this season in Single-A and dominated the level, posting a 2.43 ERA in seven starts and striking out 55 batters in just 33.1 innings of work. He moved to High-A for four starts and proceeded to post a 1.56 ERA in 17.1 innings of work. He recently made his Double-A debut and allowed just one run on one hit in four innings.
Overall, Yesavage has already pitched in three different levels this season and has a 2.14 ERA in 12 starts. What's most impressive is that he's fanned 92 batters in 54.2 innings pitched. Those 92 strikeouts are tied for the overall minor league lead, which is simply wild.
Yesavage is a 21-year-old who has already pitched well enough in his first professional season to get to face Double-A competition. It isn't far-fetched to say he'll be MLB-ready sometime next season if he continues to impress. To put it simply, with the dominance he's displayed, his ceiling is too high for the Jays to trade him for anything they can realistically get at the deadline. They should be planning for him to lead their rotation sometime within the next couple of years.
4. Addison Barger is a budding star and shouldn't go anywhere
Addison Barger got a chance to appear in 61 MLB games for the Jays last season and didn't do much. This season has been different, though. Barger failed to make the team after a strong spring training, but he wound up being called up in mid-April. He got off to a bit of a sluggish start, but quickly got things going, and has played so well to the point where he is now a key piece for the Jays.
Barger is slashing .265/.321/.484 with seven home runs and 22 RBI in 48 games this season, and has been even better as the season has progressed. In his last 32 games, he's hit .298 with a .920 OPS. In his last 15 games, he's hitting .308 with five home runs and a .999 OPS. His hot streak has resulted in him hitting third fairly often for the red-hot Jays.
As impressive as his numbers have been, his advanced metrics should have Jays fans even more excited for what's to come. Barger ranks in the 96th percentile in average exit velocity, the 92nd percentile in hard-hit rate, and the 84th percentile in barrel rate according to Baseball Savant. For reference, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is in the 94th percentile in average exit velocity. Yes, Barger is hitting the ball harder and more consistently than the $500 million man. Guerrero shouldn't be ashamed though — Barger hits the ball harder than most.
Ultimately, Barger is a 25-year-old who is a strong defender at a variety of positions, is displaying absurd offensive potential, and has tons of team control. The Jays should not be open to trading him, and should instead consider him a future building block.
3. It's hard to envision Chad Green generating any interest on the trade block
The first two players on this list are untradeable because of how promising they are. Chad Green is untradeable because of how subpar he's been. Green was expected to be a key piece of the Jays' bullpen as he was all of last season, but he has had a really rough go of it.
Green has a 4.45 ERA in 29 appearances and 28.1 innings pitched. ERA isn't everything, especially for a reliever, but Green has a 5.94 FIP, has the lowest strikeout rate of his career (20.8 percent), and the highest home run rate of his career (6.7 percent). He's allowed eight home runs in just 28.1 innings, making him really hard to trust late in games.
The 34-year-old has a solid track record, but MLB is more of a "what have you done for me lately" league. Green has been a shell of his once solid self, and with tons of relievers available every deadline, it's hard to envision him getting much interest on the trade market.
2. The Blue Jays can ill afford to trade Chris Bassitt
Chris Bassitt was a popular trade candidate entering the year because he's a veteran starting pitcher in the final year of his deal. With the Blue Jays in contention and needing starting pitching, though, a Bassitt trade just isn't in the cards.
Bassitt's overall numbers are solid, as he has a 3.70 ERA in 14 starts and 80.1 innings of work, but he has a 5.87 ERA in his last four starts, a 4.43 ERA since the start of May, and a 4.89 ERA in his last 10 starts. Bassitt got off to a roaring start but has not been great for almost two months now.
In an ideal world, the Jays might look to trade Bassitt, a 36-year-old who is struggling and likely won't be on the team next season, but they simply can't. They're trying to compete and can ill afford to trade a starter. Bowden Francis and his 6.12 ERA occupy a spot in the rotation, and the Jays have yet to find a suitable replacement for Max Scherzer since he went down with injury the first weekend of the season. Even when Scherzer returns, it's not as if the Jays can count on him to stay healthy.
They have two clear holes in their rotation and cannot create a third if they want to stay in the postseason race.
1. Bo Bichette won't be traded as long as the Blue Jays remain in postseason contention
This one feels rather obvious. The Jays are currently in a Wild Card spot. As long as they remain in or even around a Wild Card spot, it's tough to justify trading Bo Bichette away. Bichette might not be Vladdy, but he's an important piece for this Jays team.
Bichette has led off in every single game he's started and has slashed .271/.316/.419 with eight home runs and 40 RBI. He isn't quite performing at the All-Star level he was at a couple of years ago, but he's been rock-solid for the Jays and has hit for more power as the season has progressed. All eight of his home runs have been hit since the start of May. Bichette has also been enormously clutch, as evidenced by his .409 batting average and 1.128 OPS with runners in scoring position.
Questions about whether Bichette is long for Toronto are real with him set to hit free agency this winter, but a team trying to push for the playoffs simply cannot trade its leadoff hitter away just to prevent losing him for nothing in free agency. That alone makes him untradeable.