Blue Jays GM reveals 'obvious area' for team to focus on at trade deadline

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins met with reporters on Wednesday. With the deadline in a little more than a month, Toronto’s front-office leader called the starting rotation the “obvious area” for the team to address, via Keegan Matheson of MLB.com.

Atkins noted the team would “balance” the desire for an external upgrade with potential MLB returns of Hyun Jin Ryu and Alek Manoah. Those pitchers are in dramatically different spots but both high-variance options at this point. Ryu is working back from last June’s Tommy John procedure. He has been targeting a return shortly after the All-Star Break.

Manoah is healthy but in the minor leagues. Toronto optioned last year’s AL Cy Young third-place finisher to its Florida organizational complex three weeks back. He’d posted a stunning 6.36 ERA through his first 13 starts, leading the club to try to get him back on track in a lower-pressure environment.

He returned to game action this week but was tagged for 11 runs in 2 2/3 innings by the Yankees’ rookie ball affiliate. Atkins said he still “absolutely” expects Manoah to return to the MLB level in 2023, via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. He’ll throw a bullpen session on Friday before the Jays decide their next steps.

For the moment, the Jays are rolling with a starting group of Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt and Yusei Kikuchi. They don’t have a set fifth starter since sending Manoah down. Trevor Richards has kicked off three bullpen games in that spot and pitched well, but he’s only working three-inning stints. It’s obviously not an ideal setup, even with the likes of Mitch White and Bowden Francis capable of taking multiple innings of relief behind him.

Gausman is one of the best pitchers in the game. Berríos has bounced back from a rough 2022 campaign. While Bassitt’s first season in Toronto has been inconsistent, the club isn’t going to bump him from the rotation in year one of a three-year free-agent deal. Kikuchi has a 3.75 ERA and quality strikeout and walk numbers over 16 starts, but he has surrendered an MLB-leading 20 homers.

Getting either Ryu or Manoah back would theoretically fill the rotation. Yet neither player is a lock to perform well and everyone aside from Gausman has been shaky at times in the not-too-distant past. The Blue Jays lack reliable depth beyond the top four — hence the Richards bullpen games — and they’ve been fortunate to avoid an injury to any of their starters (Ryu’s surgery rehab aside).

Adding another starter indeed looks like an obvious goal for the front office. Atkins acknowledged a few weeks back the club was scouring the market. They’re firmly in a win-now window and would be justified in targeting either impending free agents (i.e. Lucas Giolito or Jordan Montgomery) or players with multiple seasons of club control. Even at 44-37, Toronto is in fourth place in the loaded AL East. They’re tied with the Angels and mere percentage points back of the Yankees for the final two wild-card spots in the Junior Circuit.