Will the Blue Jays Trade One of Their Big Bats for Pitching?

To get talent you have to give up talent.

It was a lesson the Blue Jays learned quite well at the 2015 trade deadline. They dealt 11 pitching prospects for the likes of Troy Tulowitzki, David Price, Ben Revere and others. The immediacy of “getting” was felt right away, but the “giving” part is something that has yet to play out.

Things are in a constant state of flux these days in Blue Jays Land and things are anything but status quo down at 1 Blue Jays Way. With a new president and a yet-to-be-named replacement for Alex Anthopoulos, the Blue Jays still need to go about their business of improving the ball club.

As impressive as they were in 2015, the Toronto Blue Jays in their current state have some big holes to fill; namely in the starting rotation. Here’s where it comes back to the giving up talent to get talent in return.

This has many questioning whether the Blue Jays might trade one of their big bats for some pitching; namely Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, or to a lesser extent, Troy Tulowitzki.

First and foremost, before trade talks even enter the preliminary stages, the Blue Jays seriously need to ask themselves if they foresee a scenario where one or both Bautista and Encarnacion will continue to be with the team beyond 2016.

And if that isn’t the case, then maybe they really should look at trading one of them.

There will be plenty of teams lining up inquire about the services of Troy Tulowitzki, but the Blue Jays would invariably be selling quite low on Tulo. Not to mention, Tulowitzki is one of the few players on the roster locked up long term.

The prospect of trading Troy Tulowitzki is one that involves many layers and is probably best saved for another day. But in the immediate future, the focus shifts to two players whose options were just picked up for the 2016 season: Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion.

The Cons of Trading Bautista or Encarnacion

Jose and Edwin have been faces of the Blue Jays franchise for the past five years, so it’s incredibly difficult to imagine this team without them. But if they walk as free agents at the end of 2016 anyway, the long term landscape might not include those guys.

Personally, I can’t envision a successful Blue Jays team in the short term without Jose Bautista or Edwin Encarnacion. Perhaps less now than before, but they both are coming off monster seasons for the Blue Jays.

Trading a big bat from the heart of the lineup isn’t an ideal situation for a team trying to get back into the playoffs. Typically, when a team like the Blue Jays break through into the postseason and make a decent run, they want to add upon the talent that’s there, not take away from it.

Even if the Blue Jays were to get a half-decent starting pitcher for one of their big bats, in many ways it would feel like taking a step backwards in the short term. It would be very challenging task to replace their offensive output. 40 home run/100 RBI guys are a rare commodity these days.

Bautista and Encarnacion are elite power hitters, but I really don’t foresee a situation where one of them alone could fetch a young, stud starting pitcher in return.

The Jays would only be giving up one year of control for these guys; something that may appeal to a “win now” team, but admittedly is an incredibly short window to give up a top pitching prospect or Major Leaguer for.

The Pros of Trading Bautista or Encarnacion

The reality is this; trading Bautista or Encarnacion may be a necessary evil for the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays have a surplus on offense and a desperate need for starting pitching.

If the Blue Jays are out of the running for some of the top and mid-tier free agent pitchers, the Jays might not have a choice but to trade one of their big bats for some pitching help.

Think about how hard it’s been for the Blue Jays to convince free agent starting pitchers to come to Toronto. Over the past few years, the Jays have augmented their starting rotation predominantly through trades and developing starters from the farm system; not bringing in marquee free agents.

Even if Aaron Sanchez and Roberto Osuna are shifted into the Blue Jays’ starting rotation plans, that still leaves at least one empty spot in the rotation and not a lot of depth behind them.

If the Blue Jays do have a solid farm system in place, no one player should be irreplaceable. But there’s solace in the fact that there are other places where the Blue Jays could make up the offense if they lost one of Bautista and Encarnacion.

In previous years, Jose and Edwin carried this team offensively, but with production now coming from virtually every other position on the diamond, one can feel a little more comfortable with the prospect of losing a big bat.

Now there’s Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki, Russell Martin and Kevin Pillar to potentially negate a loss of one of their bigger bats in the lineup.

The other area where a loss of Bautista or Encarnacion doesn’t hurt the club as much is run prevention. For a team that was revered for its much-improved defense in 2015, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion weren’t beneficial in the field.

If anything, Jose Bautista actually had one of his worst seasons defensively in 2015. At 35 years old, Bautista’s days in the outfield are numbered. Edwin does an admirable job at first base, but he’s no Gold Glover.

Image via Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP