“Right now, to move quickly,” Atkins added, “you’re probably going to pay a premium.” The Blue Jays, even after losing 6-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night who ended their seven-game winning streak, they are not in a position to have to jump. The damage from going 1-9 that helped seal the fate of former coach Charlie Montoyo has been undone by a 9-2 run since then, and their situation has largely stabilized. Clear needs remain, but as the market evolves (the New York Yankees struck first, acquiring Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi), the Blue Jays are discussing internally how best to bolster their roster. Does dealing with Luis Castillo or Frankie Montas have the biggest impact? Load up for one, if not two, impact relievers and move toward an elite bullpen? Go crazy and get Juan Soto, even if he walks after 2024, be damned to play? Despite sacrificing their 2020 and 2021 first-round picks on future-for-present deals last summer (Jose Berrios) and this spring (Matt Chapman), the Blue Jays still have the prospect capital to they make more deals. Their players have “done an incredible job of putting themselves in a position where we have to think about that,” Atkins said. To reward that effort and boost the team, they will need to do more than think before next Tuesday. “We feel good about the depth,” Atkins said of his team’s farm system. “You never feel good about removing (prospects), but we feel like we’re in a good position to be able to make a decision if it makes sense for us.” What makes sense to them will, to some extent, be determined by what the market presents. But it’s not entirely a coincidence that Yusei Kikuchi is being parachuted into the starting rotation on Thursday when the Blue Jays could wait until Saturday. Having at least a small indication of how much the enigmatic lefties can be relied upon will certainly inform their decision-making. There is some optimism about the changes Kikcuhi has made while on the injured list — particularly in terms of stabilizing his release point, using his athleticism more in his performance, establishing a solid slider — and whether he can be consistently a five-point, four-wheel type, that will do. At the same time, with Hyun Jin Ryu done for the season, Ross Stripling already in the rotation and Max Castillo seemingly the last line of defense, adding to the rotation seems wise. Whether it should be a Luis Castillo/Montas-level addition is another matter, but the action is hot even in low starters with the supply thin. Someone in the Chad Kuhl/Drew Smyly mold could make sense as long as he didn’t cut the Blue Jays off from adding to the bullpen. A case can be made that even with Kikuchi’s uncertainty, adding more spice to a bullpen that is 18th in the majors with 8.69 strikeouts per nine, sixth-highest in homers per nine at 1.24 and a collective 1.1 WAR, as calculated by Fangraphs, which is tied for 22nd, is a bigger priority. Atkins noted that “the swing and miss is definitely effective, and I think that would be the one area where if we could add more swing and miss, that would be a positive.” There’s also the potential for in-house help in this regard, with Julian Merryweather throwing bullpens, Nate Pearson throwing 60 feet and prospects like Hayden Juenger, recently promoted to triple-A Buffalo, and Yosver Zulueta, at double-A New Hampshire, making progress. Counting on any of these may not be responsible, especially if there is no other August exemption period. Kikuchi, Merryweather and Pearson are talents, but tempting for now. “We’re thinking about how we can support them, how we can get them in the best possible position to give us depth,” Atkins said. “But we have to think about how we can provide depth on the outside as well.” Deepening the bullpen (how about a reunion with 2020 starter Anthony Bass?) would allow current relievers to downplay their role, giving interim manager John Schneider more options earlier in the game. An example of how that could play out came in the fifth inning Wednesday, when Kevin Gausman had two runners on with two outs and Albert Pujols was coming up. Snyder in that case went to Trevor Richards, who ended up delivering a three-run homer that put the Cardinals up 6-1, so the move in that case failed. “It’s a tough call, Gausman is obviously one of our guys,” Schneider said. “I’m just trying to figure out how he was going, where his location was. Obviously we like his arrow towards Albert a little better. He had a little trouble sticking it to the top of the belt tonight. So somehow it worked out to where a fresh hand seemed like the best option. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.” Snyder noted that Richards has played well lately, and it’s true. But what if David Phelps or Adam Cimber, say, weren’t needed later and could play at this point? Having multiple relievers capable of putting out fires allows for the type of creative bullpen usage that tends to play out in the postseason. It’s a way to help the Blue Jays get there now and succeed there later. “It’s based on how the game goes, who we have available,” Schneider said of identifying relievers for such situations. “I honestly enjoyed this match. I’ve said it a lot, where you try to put guys in a three-strike pocket where they’re going to have success and it was just a mis-executed pitch by Trevor. It’s something we would do again and we have a lot of guys we trust at this point.” Either way, focusing resources on strengthening the bullpen instead of bolstering an already dominant offense might make the most sense. “Making incremental improvements, even on the position player roster, is not the easiest thing to do,” Atkins noted, so unless they add an elite like Soto or a middle-of-the-pack talent like Ian Happ (a switch-hitter which offers another option for left-handers), the best hitting for their prospect prospects will likely come elsewhere, especially if that prevents them from adding pitching. That view among the Blue Jays isn’t unanimous, and they may eventually find themselves locked in the most consequential move set. One way or another, decision time is coming, high prices or not.
