Blue Jays rival trade connection should be enough to get Ross Atkins canned

The Toronto Blue Jays are baseball's most disappointing team. After swinging and missing on the Shohei Ohtani front — that damn airplane... — the Blue Jays' offseason plans turned to rental vets and marginal improvements.

None of it worked, though. Bo Bichette is experiencing the worst season of his career, a microcosm for the Blue Jays' larger issues. The offense is wayward and unreliable, no matter the efforts of All-Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. In the middle of his god-awful campaign, Bichette is reportedly telling friends that he wants a trade. The vibes are bad. The Jays are down horrendous.

Toronto is expected to sell in the week to come, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The Blue Jays will do "plenty of selling at the deadline" before doing "some firing in the offseason," as he puts it. GM Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider are on the hottest of seats, like somebody accidentally flipped on the seat warmer during a 100-degree heat wave. Sorry, a 37.78°C heat wave. I forget, we're talking about Toronto.

Front offices acting out of desperation tend to make regrettable mistakes. It's a time-honored tradition. According to Nightengale, several veterans are on the trade block for Toronto. Included among the exodus will be Justin Turner, the 39-year-old third baseman-turned-DH who spent last season with the Boston Red Sox.

Turner is bound to have several suitors? One potential landing spot pitched by Patrick McAvoy of Sports Illustrated?

The New York Yankees.

Blue Jays' Justin Turner floated as potential Yankees trade target

It's an obvious match on paper. Turner would continue making his late-career rounds through the AL East, joining a contender in desperate need of a third bat next to Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. The DJ LaMahieu experience has been particularly rough. Gleyber Torres is slumping and hurt. Giancarlo Stanton is also hurt. There's plenty of room for Turner to slot in and make an impact.

He's best in the DH role at this stage of his career, but Turner can still defend the corners in a pinch. His adaptably and his track record at the plate are worthy of investment from the Yankees, even if this has been somewhat of a down year offensively (.228/.329/.337 with five home runs and 29 RBI through 276 ABs). He shouldn't cost much at 39 on an expiring contract. He is a pure rental, which shouldn't concern New York in a do-or-die season.

That said, the optics are undesirable from the Blue Jays' perspective. If Ross Atkins' parting move is to make the Yankees better on his way out the door, that will sit wrong with a lot of folks. It's past time to shake up the management structure in Toronto, but this move would only increase the volume of the angry chorus forming among the Blue Jays fandom.

Frankly, the optics here are probably worse than the actual impact. Turner would be a helpful depth piece for the Yankees, but at this stage of his career, he's not launching New York to the next level of contention. He's exactly what the label says — a depth piece rental. If New York coughs up a prospect for the 39-year-old, it's the same as sending Turner anywhere else. Toronto clearly wouldn't be aiming to contend with the Yankees during Turner's brief tenure on the roster.

All the same, it's a matter of principle. If the Blue Jays' big offseason signing ends up as trade fodder to aid the Yankees' World Series pursuit, that is probably a sign that the end is nigh for Atkins up North.