The Blue Jays are an organization that is not afraid to pull the trigger on major trades.
Several reports state that the Blue Jays have inquired on Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija,
and that the Blue Jays are putting together a package of young players to
try to land him, a source tells Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com
For his part, Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos didn't deny that he has
discussed Samardzija with Chicago in an interview with Jim Bowden of
SiriusXM.
The Blue Jays are stocked with pitching prospects. It is doubtful that No. 1 prospect RHPAaron Sanchez or No. 2 RHP Roberto Osuna would be part of a Samardzija deal, No. 3 AA pitcher Marcus Stroman could be, or No. 4 LHP Daniel Norris.
No. 5 LHP Sean Nolin got a taste of MLB action last season. No. 6 prospect RHP John Stilson was at AAA last season and could be promoted as insurance for the Jays current MLB roster pitching depth (Dickey, Buehrle, Morrow, Happ, Hutchinson, Drabek - - who is coming back from Tommy John surgery).
The Jays also have a third catcher on their 40 man roster, A.J. Jimeniz, who projects to be a solid major league catcher. He is currently inactive (injured) but the 23 year old played well in AAA last season.
If the Blue Jays propose a package of two pitching prospects and Jimeniz, the Cubs would be foolish not to jump on that deal.
