Blue Jays Morning Brew: Injury Updates, Roster Move Records and Possible Trade Targets
The Toronto Blue Jays keep winning games so the least we can do is keep going with these morning links to start your day. Here are your latest Blue Jays news and rumours:
According to Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com, Adam Lind appears to be the next player in line to return to the club but there's still no clear timetable for his return. Edwin Encarnacion, who suffered a "minor setback" three days ago, has been temporarily shut down from baseball activities until at least today. Chisholm shared last week that the Blue Jays are considering having both Lind and Encarnacion return from the DL without playing in any rehab games.
In another piece at MLB.com, Chisholm writes that GM Alex Anthopoulos has decisions to make if he wants to further upgrade his team. The Blue Jays acquired Danny Valencia from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Liam Hendriks and Erik Kratz yesterday, which was a nice, albeit rather minor move that improves the Jays' lineup against left-handed pitching.
The Blue Jays could still stand to upgrade with an everyday player at either second or third base or add a reliever (another capable starting pitcher would be nice too) but if Lind, Encarnacion and Brett Lawrie are able to return to the lineup in the coming weeks I really don't mind this team's chances of snagging the second wild card, even if they don't make another trade.
Just before the Valencia move was made yesterday, Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star opines why the Blue Jays might stand pat at the non-waiver deadline.
Bruce Levine of WSCR-AM tweets that the Blue Jays have "kicked the tires on Gordon Beckham for the last month" but Beckham's recent slump "hurt trade progress". I'm losing track of how many times the Blue Jays have been connected to Beckham in the past few years – it's been a lot and makes increasingly less and less sense. Levine adds the Blue Jays were also "in pursuit" of Darwin Barney before he was dealt to the Dodgers.
I knew there was a reason I pinned roster moves as a category to the top of the site. According to Amy Moritz of The Buffalo News, the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons set a modern era record with their 192nd (and counting) roster move yesterday. Let's just say if you play with the Bisons it's probably a good idea not to get too comfortable.
And closing out, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet provides a complete buyer's guide to possible Blue Jays trade targets for the non-waiver deadline.