5 Blue Jays offseason trade targets involving position players

If it feels like eons since the Toronto Blue Jays last played, it’s because the playoffs have come and gone and the offseason has arrived. For every team save for the World Series Champion Texas Rangers, it’s time to build better roster for the 2024 campaign.

Let the wheeling and dealing begin.

Last year, the dust had barely settled on the 2023 season before the Blue Jays traded Teoscar Hernandez to the Seattle Mariners for Erik Swanson. Then, just before the holidays, the Jays traded Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. for Daulton Varsho.

This offseason, they will be busier than ever filling positions on the team, including third base, second base, left field, and designated hitter.

Toronto’s front office likely won’t have the payroll to find all those players in free agency, so Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins needs to work his contacts to swing some deals for position players.

These are some of the most attractive trade targets for the Blue Jays this winter.

1. Juan Soto (left fielder)

• Age: 25
• 2023 stats: .275/.410/.519, 35 HR, 155 wRC+, 5.5 fWAR
• Salary remaining: Final year arbitration eligible

This is a big swing and would be a massive move by the Blue Jays; trading for three-time All-Star Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres. One wonders how willing San Diego is to trade Soto in the first place, but he only has one year of team control remaining.

If the Blue Jays could somehow make this materialize, it would add some left-handed thump to their lineup, and finally provide some protection for top-of-the-order hitters like Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Some prized prospects and/or some big league talent would head the other way, but with the Blue Jays’ window of contention closing, maybe it makes sense to make a wild trade and stack their lineup as much as possible for the 2024 campaign.

2. Ryan McMahon (third baseman)

• Age: 28
• 2023 stats: .240/.322/.431, 23 HR, 88 wRC+, 1.2 fWAR
• Salary remaining: Four years, $56 million total

On the defensive side, there aren’t many third basemen as talented as Matt Chapman. After his otherworldly start to the season, Chapman’s offensive production fell off a cliff, and he was often a liability in the top half of the order.

Whoever replaces him at the hot corner won’t be platinum glover, but McMahon is pretty close. His 17 defensive runs saved in 2023 ranked him second among all third baseman (5 ahead of Chapman).

The Rockies signed McMahon to a sizable extension which goes through the 2027 season, and those types of deals signed by teams on the periphery of contention always scream “trade bait.”

McMahon’s numbers outside of Coors Field aren’t the greatest, but the floor for offensive production from Blue Jays third basemen is extremely low. There’s also reason to believe he might unlock 30+ homer potential with a different team.

3. Lane Thomas (outfielder)

• Age: 28
• 2023 stats: .268/.315/.468, 28 HR, 109 wRC+, 2.7 fWAR
• Salary remaining: Second year arbitration eligible, 2 years team control

The Blue Jays drafted Lane Thomas in 2014 and he spend parts of four seasons in their minor league system before the Blue Jays traded Thomas to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017.

This organization has some familiarity with Thomas’ history, and he blossomed into a solid everyday outfielder with the Washington Nationals. His .468 slugging percentage was a career high, and he hit 28 bombs, another career high.

Thomas spent the bulk of 2023 in right field for the Nationals, but he played 73 games in left field back in 2022. Acquiring him would mean shifting Daulton Varsho over to centre field (where he’s more valuable anyway), leaving the left fielder job to Thomas.

4. Jonathan India (second baseman)

• Age: 26
• 2023 stats: .244/.338/.407, 17 HR, 99 wRC+, 1.2 fWAR
• Salary remaining: First year arbitration eligible, 3 years team control

The Cincinnati Reds had an interesting “will they/won’t they trade him” discourse surrounding Jonathan India this past season. With so many infielders on their depth chart, it seems like the Reds are gearing up to offload one of these players like Jonathan India.

He dealt with a foot injury and missed a third of the season, but through 119 games he belted 17 home runs and posted decent offensive numbers as a second baseman.

The Blue Jays rotated through Whit Merrifield, Cavan Biggio, Santiago Espinal and Davis Schneider at the keystone in 2023, so some stability with an everyday player like India only benefits a team like Toronto who had a lot of turnover at second base.

5. Tyler O’Neill (left fielder)

• Age: 28
• 2023 stats: .231/.312/.403, 9 HR, 97 wRC+, 0.8 fWAR
• Salary remaining: Final year arbitration eligible

The last few years haven’t been kind to Tyler O’Neill, which means it might be ripe time for the Blue Jays to buy low from the Cardinals on this two-time Gold Glove outfielder. He’s far removed with his 31 home run campaign in 2021, but the potential is still there as a 28-year-old left fielder.

O’Neill comes with some pop and he plays plus defence, which should carry over the Blue Jays’ glove-first philosophy in the outfield. There’s a lot of swing and miss in his bat, but he can run into one and change the game in a heartbeat.

The Cardinals have a glut out outfielders and with one year of team control remaining, the Cardinals would be wise to shop their 28-year-old outfielder to a team in need of outfield power and defence like the Blue Jays.