The trade pieces continue to get moved at a time when the Blue Jays are actually managing to post wins.
Too bad MLB’s trade deadline didn’t arrive sooner — as in early April.
Two trades involving relievers, two wins with additional deals to be made prior to Tuesday’s deadline.
In the interim, a series finale against Texas will be played Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre followed by a double dip in Baltimore.
Sunday marks the ninth game in the Jays’ nine-game homestand, which began with a series loss to Detroit followed by a series loss to Tampa, which handed Toronto its most lopsided defeat of the season in a 13-0 shellacking to take the rubber match.
The Jays have been much more competitive against the reigning World Series champion Rangers, taking the series opener in a 6-5 walk-off win.
The Jays are now poised to sweep the Rangers following Saturday’s 7-3 win.
On Friday, it was Yimi Garcia who was informed of his trade to Seattle. On Saturday, it was Nate Pearson packing his bags for Chicago after the Cubs acquired Big Nate.
Unless a complete bombshell drops in the next few days, Saturday’s starter Kevin Gausman isn’t going anywhere. A bit wobbly in the early innings, Gausman was Cy Young worthy in shutting down the Rangers. He retired 18 in a row and reached the 96-pitch total through eight innings.
Scouts have flocked to Rogers Centre to further inspect the handful of pending free agents the Jays are likely to make available, if they haven’t already.
Garcia was one of them, while Pearson was still under control.
When Yusei Kikuchi took the mound for his Friday start, he had already been told by GM Ross Atkins that the chances of a trade are quite high.
If he’s available, Gausman would fit into any contending rotation, which is stating the obvious.
It would be a complete shock if the Jays do engineer a trade involving Gausman, but at this point anything must be viewed as possible, even if such a scenario appears to be unlikely. Gausman was on the mound to start the ninth inning.
It was back in Oakland where Gausman pitched his first-career complete-game shutout in leading the Jays to their 7-0 win.
Against the Rangers, Gausman induced a groundout to begin the ninth.
A great defensive play by George Springer in right field led to the inning’s second out. A fly out to centre field would end it.
Gausman did not give up a hit after the third inning. He was great, the Jays’ bats were very good and their defence solid.
It’s no wonder the Jays are poised to produce a sweep.
Perhaps a third trade in as many days is in the works.
A few baseball insiders are suggesting Danny Jansen is heading to Boston.
ONE OF A KIND
It was quite the first inning, one heck of a way to begin a ball game on the same day the Jays said goodbye to a bullpen member for the second day in a row.
Gausman trailed 1-0 by throwing four pitches, beginning with a toss to Marcus Semien that led to a bloop triple down the right-field line.
Then came a wild pitch that put the Texas in front, much like the Rangers managed to do in taking a 1-0 lead in the series opener.
Similar to Friday, when the Blue Jays responded by scoring three runs in their first at-bats, the home side did one better.
When all was said and done, the Jays scored four runs and would knock Texas starter Michael Lorenzen out in the first inning after throwing 40 pitches.
The Jays did their damage with two outs, no less.
Springer led it all off when he struck out and he would end the inning on a fly ball.
The biggest hit was produced by Daulton Varsho, who went deep for a three-run blow. It was Varsho’s first home run since June 16.
BRIEFLY
Steward Berroa, who scored the winning run Friday night when Ernie Clement drove him home, recorded his first hit in the show when he led off the sixth inning by hooking a ball into the right-field corner for a double; he came around to score on a one out sac fly as the Jays extended their lead to 6-3; Berroa started in left field; the kid is as exuberant and energetic as they come, prompting manager John Schneider to remark pre-game that Berroa is a “human cup of coffee,’’ which seems fitting … Shortly after announcing the trade that sent Nate Pearson to the Chicago Cubs for two prospects, the Jays announced they had transferred Jordan Romano to the 60-day IL, a move that is more clerical than anything else; it still remains unknown if Romano will be able to pitch again this season; even if he’s cleared, it may not even make sense … Ryan Burr’s mercurial stay with the Blue Jays continues as his up and down tenure shows no end in sight; at least he’s back with the big-league after the Jays recalled the righty reliever from triple-A Buffalo; Burr has made 10 appearances for the Blue Jays heading into Saturday.