.jpg)
1 hour ago
3
Kevin Gausman hasn't done anything wrong to become a potential trade candidate.
The Toronto Blue Jays have simply put themselves in a very precarious position.
There's still more than half of July to go, and the Blue Jays are close enough to the playoff race to have a chance at getting back into it.
But if Toronto stumbles to close out this month, they'll almost certainly have to be sellers at the trade deadline.
If that happens, Gausman's name will be popular.
MORE: Blue Jays did the right thing with Dylan Cease
The surprise, though, came from ESPN's Jeff Passan in a new article on Thursday. He names Gausman as the "dream match" for a shocking team: the Minnesota Twins.
A year after selling heavily at the deadline, the Twins apparently could consider a big swing for a guy like Gausman, if he becomes available.
"If Toronto does wind up dumping its impending free agents, Minnesota adding Gausman to Ryan and Taj Bradley in a three-game wild-card series certainly would play," Passan writes. "At the same time, the Twins' front office understands that pouring too much into a team that last saw .500 on April 22 would be questionable at best and folly at worst."
It's interesting that Passan basically spells out the problem for the Twins right there -- that they haven't been particularly good.
They're still in the AL Central race, and a trio of Gausman with Joe Ryan and Taj Bradley would be intriguing.
For the Blue Jays, it really just spells out the larger point: If Gausman becomes available, their phones will be ringing a lot. He's a clearly desirable piece that lots of teams will see as someone who can push them over whatever obstacle is in their way.
More MLB news:
- How a Dodgers, Yankees battle for Tarik Skubal is looming
- One thing stands between the Phillies and a trade for Byron Buxton
- How Joe Ryan is a bad reminder for the Red Sox
- Dodgers needed 92 games to do something that's normally pretty easy for MLB teams
- Kyle Schwarber is closing in on a Babe Ruth record
English (US)