Blue Jays Good Problems? Should the Jays Trade Arjun Nimmala? + What To Do With Springer & Santander

Peter Klein

The Blue Jays are officially buyers — but how aggressive should they be?  In this deep dive, we look at Toronto’s trade deadline priorities, including whether they should consider moving top prospect Arjun Nimmala for a true difference-maker.  Plus: What should the Jays do when Anthony Santander returns? Should they keep George Springer as the full-time DH while he's red hot, or go back to the old lineup?  We break down the pitching needs, the bullpen puzzle, and why this "good problem" of roster depth could make or break Toronto’s World Series hopes.  #BlueJays #MLB #ArjunNimmala #GeorgeSpringer #MLBTradeDeadline   💬 Who would you keep, and who would you move? Drop your thoughts in the comments!  🎧 Listen on: Apple https://apple.co/49NGm2L | Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3QgazeHcSKSteZbBIubcuM?si=icY7NEBvT7yZadv_JFlT6Q  💬 Follow for live breakdowns: X.com/primetimepk | Twitch.tv/primetimepk  | Kick.com/primetimepk  🔗 Support the Show:   - Tip Jar: https://streamelements.com/couchpotatodiary/tip (fuels more content!)   - Partners: C of Dead http://cofdead403.ca/ | Swift Energy https://www.swiftenergy.gg/?ref=mriusnqm PROMO CODE: PKPrimetime for 25% Off!

Transcript

00:00It is trading season in Major League Baseball, and for the Toronto Blue Jays, they have put

00:17themselves firmly in the buyer spot, thanks to a phenomenal run of excellent baseball that they

00:25have played, getting into first place in the American League East, now with their sights on

00:30the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros, so they can avoid that pesky wildcard round that has been

00:35such a problem for them in the last little bit. I do have a couple of other Blue Jay notes that I

00:41want to get to, but Deed's starting out with a very good question in the Twitch chat. With how the Jays

00:46are sitting, what do you chase at the trade deadline? And with Bo not signed, do you take a

00:50chance with trading Namala? I will say, I did a video looking at what the Blue Jays' top priorities

00:58should be going into this trade deadline period that they are in, so I went a little bit more

01:06in depth in that video there, but we can still talk about where the Blue Jays should be going.

01:13Um, I think there's a couple of ways that the Blue Jays can go here. I think the main focus needs to

01:21be the start, or not the starting rotation, but just pitchers in general. I think the bullpen is a

01:26massive, massive need for this team, and I think a very good top-of-the-line starting rotation would be

01:34the next place I would look. So I think you need another leverage reliever in the bullpen to make life a

01:41little bit easier, and take some of the immense workload that has been placed on these guys off

01:46of them, and see how you can kind of progress, um, with, you know, more than a couple of guys that

01:52you trust in that bullpen, and take some of the pressure off. But then I do think that starting

01:58pitching depth, at the very least, needs to be acquired by this ball club. I mean, you just saw

02:04it against the White Sox there, with Lauer looking at his hand, shaking his hand out, that could be a

02:09blister issue. Um, if he goes down, I genuinely don't know what they do, and I don't want to be

02:15going with bullpen games, as this team is chasing an American League East title. I think that's a

02:21very bad way of going about life. So I think you need some starting pitching depth, and I think you

02:26can, like, shoot high for a potential starting pitcher. I, I think that I am comfortable with

02:34Gosman, Barrios, and Bassett in a playoff series, but I'd be more comfortable if there was a real,

02:40like, stone-cold ace at the top of it. I love hearing some of the talk that maybe it is a Jake

02:45DeGrom that they might be focusing on. Um, we, we know this organization likes to go big game hunting.

02:50They miss a lot, but they like to go big game hunting when it comes to that. The other part of

02:54this question I do think is very interesting as well. With, um, with Bo not signed, do you take a

03:00chance with possibly trading Namala? Um, Arjun Namala, one of the top prospects in the Blue Jays

03:04system, and certainly the top prospect on, uh, of the position players. Um, I would have to be

03:11blown away by a trade. Like, I, I am not trading Namala for a leverage reliever. You know, like,

03:17this is, if you are doing that, then we are kind of talking about the upper echelon of starting

03:24pitchers. That is the only time I am considering it. I do think that, well, I think Namala,

03:30is going to be very, very good. I do think that the acquisitions that the Blue Jays made

03:36and kind of how they have set themselves up, put them in a spot where maybe there is already

03:42a little bit of Bo insurance. Um, trying to think of a pun there, none's coming, so we'll just move

03:50on. But I, I do think that there is already some insurance there. When they go out and acquire

03:55Andreas Jimenez from the Cleveland Guardians, there was a lot of talk that, okay, year one,

04:00this guy's going to be a second baseman, and he's one of the best defensive second baseman,

04:03maybe the best defensive second baseman in all of baseball. But he's going to be there,

04:08and then if something happens with Bo, either this team does not re-sign Vlad, or Bo is just like,

04:15nah, I'm not doing it, man. I'm out of here. A lot of talk was that you can move him to

04:21shortstop, and then you could still go with Clement at second, um, Jimenez at shortstop,

04:29with Barger, let's say, at third. It's not, oh my god, watch out Yankees type of an infield,

04:36but you can, you can get by on that. And then whatever money you are not spending on Bo,

04:40you can go out and try to make a big splash that way. And so, you already have a bit of

04:45Bo Bichette insurance there. So, Namala is not an untouchable for me. I'm not actively shopping

04:53him around, but if, like, if it's the difference between getting Paul Skeens or not, then yes,

04:59obviously. Um, and I know that's not where you are thinking. It would have to be an absolute game

05:04changer for this team. Like, I am not making a trade involving Namala, or Yosavage, uh, for,

05:11for that matter, without having it be a gigantic needle mover. Like, I, I have to look at a trade

05:20involving the top prospects for the Blue Jays, and I have to look at it and say, after this,

05:27can we win a World Series? And the answer has to be unequivocally yes, and it has to make us one of

05:34the favorites in the American League to do that. So, I would be very picky, but I would do it if,

05:40if the right thing came along. The DeGrom aspect of it is interesting. I don't, I would have

05:47concerns about trading for someone with that type of a, um, injury history and giving up the top

05:53prospects that the Blue Jays are going to need to. Now, I, I just said I am all there for an all-in

05:57type of a move, but I, I would much rather the Blue Jays flex the financial muscle of bringing him

06:03in than giving up a ton of, um, draft, or not draft capital, but prospect capital. I know they're

06:08going to have to give up some. I'm not saying that, hey, do you think they would do it for,

06:11um, just, uh, mile straw, just one for one? Obviously, they're going to have to give up

06:17quite a bit, and it's probably going to be maybe a little bit more than I would be comfortable with,

06:20but I, I would much rather the biggest part of it is, hey, the Blue Jays took on the whole contract

06:25than it is, um, oh my god, they just gave up five prospects. So, short answer is, I,

06:32I would take a chance, but it would have to be a very big return coming back in. No rentals

06:41and not for a bullpen arm. There isn't one bullpen arm in baseball that'd be worth trading any of those

06:46guys for. So, it's probably an ace starting pitcher, um, or an offensive piece that I'm not thinking of

06:52as one that could be available. Uh, but the Blue Jays might be getting an offensive piece back at some

06:58point, as Anthony Santander, uh, works his way back from injury, and I think it is an interesting

07:04conversation right now because of all the talk around George Springer, uh, who is basically doing

07:11what the Blue Jays wanted Anthony Santander to do when they went out and signed him to that contract

07:16in free agency. Springer is the reigning, uh, player of the week since Santander got hurt, and this is

07:23where I think it gets a little bit tricky how you can piece these together. Since Santander got hurt,

07:29Springer has played 22 games at DH, 9 games in the outfield. For reference, Santander this year has

07:3729 games at DH and 19 in the outfield. So, like I said, Springer is basically doing what we thought

07:44Santander was going to do with this ball club in terms of utilization and productivity. And the thing is,

07:51I don't think you can just say, okay, well, just go back to the way it was. Because since Springer

07:57started being the DH more, and I know that he is trying to do it as a professional hitter or something

08:02like that instead of designated hitter, but, um, since he has taken on this role, he has a 323 batting

08:09average with 10 home runs and 34 runs batted in. For reference, the 162 game pace on that is 323,

08:17that doesn't change. 48 home runs and 162 RBIs. That's absurd, that pace. A, I think he's going

08:26to fall off a little bit. Uh, but B, I don't know how you stop doing that. So, A, I think with

08:33Santander, this gives you the opportunity, you're not rushing him back, right? This is not a, man,

08:39if you're 75%, um, your next rehab assignment is the designated hitter with the Blue Jays,

08:44because we need something. This is a, let's make sure you are really right as rain before we get

08:49back into this and, or before we get you back into this, and we can extend some rehab and really make

08:56sure that you are comfortable at the plate. And maybe while we're doing this, we were able to fix

09:00a couple of things that have been a problem with you hitting like 176 on the season. So, the first

09:05part of it is, take your time coming back, my guy. Um, but then after that, I do think that you have

09:15to, at least while he is still hot, keep George Springer as the designated hitter for this team.

09:20And I get that that means you are probably sacrificing a little bit defensively with

09:25Santander in the outfield. And I do think that you will have to have some defensive substitutions

09:32with him ready for late game situations and everything like that. But it's something we've

09:37talked about with this team before. If they go out and add a real impact piece to the lineup,

09:42there are going to be young players who are playing well, who are going to get less of an opportunity,

09:46which feels like it sucks. But I do also think that it is, it's just, it is what great organizations

09:53have the tough time of doing. It's finding playing time for everybody. And so building up that depth

09:59is not a bad thing. And so I do think that when Santander comes back, there's going to have to be

10:05more time in the outfield for him, at least initially, because of how effectively George

10:10Springer is playing as this team's designated hitter. Now, as Dan Schulman has said a number of

10:16times, these things have a way of working themselves out. So maybe by the time Santander is back,

10:21maybe there's a couple of other things that have bumped around that allow the Blue Jays to really

10:27just not have to make a decision on that thing. But I think when everybody is healthy,

10:31I still think the status quo is probably the way to go for the Toronto Blue Jays.

10:36That is going to do it for the Blue Jays talk as we get ready for a weekend set with Oakland,

10:40or sorry, not Oakland, the Athletics. So if you have, though, any other Blue Jays notes,

10:46send them in the chat. And if you're watching this after the fact, let me know in the comment section,

10:51do you agree with kind of my synopsis on a couple of things there with the Toronto Blue Jays?

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