Braves better be in attendance for this unofficial start of Blue Jays fire sale

The Toronto Blue Jays are dead last in the AL East, eight games below .500, and very much on the shortlist of most disappointing teams in baseball. GM Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider are in a race to see who gets fired first. Despite multiple established All-Stars, a healthy payroll, and competitive ambitions, Toronto has been utterly flat this season.

There is still time to turn the ship around, but with less than two weeks until the trade deadline, the front office has a decision to make. Kick the can down the road — and potentially mount an excuse for a paltry second half of the campaign — or try to add talent and make a run. Most expect the Blue Jays to skew toward the former and sell.

While Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. probablay aren't going anywhere, a large chunk of the Blue Jays roster should be available to the highest bidder. Especially those on expiring contracts, as Toronto is bound to overhaul the roster and let several free agents walk in a few months.

Among the more popular names in the Blue Jays rumor mill is their hard-throwing southpaw, Yusei Kikuchi. At 33 years old, Kikuchi is in the final year of his contract, worth $10 million. That is an affordable price for a durable, established back-end starter.

He has two more starts lined up before the deadline. A "heavy pro scouting presence" is expected in Toronto to see first-hand what Kikuchi brings to the table, per Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith. While several teams ought to consider the former All-Star, few contenders need a bankable starter more than the Atlanta Braves.

Blue Jays' Yusei Kikuchi is obvious trade deadline rental option for Braves

Atlanta has been the victim of unfortunate injury luck this season. Reynaldo Lopez was signed last offseason to compete for the fifth starting spot. Now he's an NL All-Star with a gobsmacking 1.88 ERA and 7-3 record. But, two games into the season, the head was cut off of the proverbial snake. Spencer Strider went down with an elbow injury and was ruled out for the rest of the season.

Without Strider, even Lopez cannot solve the Braves' ongoing fifth starter issue. Bryce Elder made the All-Star game in 2023, but he has spent half of this season in Triple-A. That feels like an all-time fluke in hindsight. Spencer Schwellenbach, A.J. Smith-Shawver, and Hurston Waldrep are among the young up-and-comers who have received a chance in the Braves' rotation, but none have stood out from the pack.

The Braves aren't going to go overboard when it comes to sacrificing prospect capital, but Alex Anthopoulos is notoriously aggressive. He won a World Series with trade rentals, so he won't think twice about adding an established vet like Kikuchi if the price is right.

The Japan native won't dominate — Kikuchi is 4-8 through 20 starts with a 4.42 ERA and 117 strikeouts through 106.0 innings pitched — but he is generally a reliable option. Kikuchi has cleared the 100-inning mark in five of six MLB seasons and he was an All-Star in 2021, his final season with the Seattle Mariners before inking a three-year deal in Toronto.

The Braves aren't looking for an expensive, top-line ace. Chris Sale, Max Fried, and Lopez are plenty comfortable anchoring the rotation and should all perform in the playoffs, assuming health doesn't become a negative factor. But, Kikuchi gives them a set-and-forget option as the No. 5 starter and, should injuries strike, he can occupy a more prominent slot in a pinch.

Kikuchi shouldn't be the only option on the Braves' radar, but as scouts from across the U.S. flood into Canada to scout the Blue Jays, Atlanta's evaluators should be in attendance.