with 11 days remaining before the july 31 trade deadline, the toronto blue jays are nearing one of the busiest times of year for a front office. Gm ross atkins told sportsnet’s starting lineup that the blue jays are working to improve the club for 2018 and beyond without subtracting too much from their current team—a challenge that means exploring many possibilities at once.
“you can’t think about three or four potential moves, you have to think about 50 moves,†atkins told elliott price and greg brady on sportsnet 590 the fan. “we have to think about every possible scenario and every possible way to make this team better.â€
while players like roberto osuna and marcus stroman would no doubt appeal to other teams because of their talent level and remaining years of control, the blue jays have made it clear that they don’t plan to part with core pieces. As such, they haven’t been getting lots of unexpected calls from other clubs.
“executives respect where you are and what your strategy is if you clearly articulate it,†atkins said.
Eventually the blue jays will have to determine whether they’re going to extend josh donaldson before the 2018-19 off-season, when he’s eligible for free agency. That may be an off-season conversation, though. For now, atkins declined to discuss a possible extension in detail.
“we want to do anything and everything we can to make our team better, and we hope that josh donaldson is a part of that,†atkins said.