Toronto Blue Jays' Closer Reportedly Could Be a Trade Target For Division Rival

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, if the Toronto Blue Jays elect to sell at the trade deadline, closer Jordan Romano could be a name that draws attention from the Baltimore Orioles.

May 11, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Jordan Romano (68) throws a / Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

According to MLB Insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Baltimore Orioles could potentially be interested in trading for Toronto Blue Jays' closer Jordan Romano this season.

Per Nightengale in his Sunday Notebook:

The Baltimore Orioles privately realize that they are going to have to find closer for the pennant stretch with Craig Kimbrel melting down. They have their eyes on St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley, Toronto Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano and Astros reliever Ryan Pressly, if their teams become deadline sellers.

Kimbrel, signed to replace injured All-Star closer Felix Bautista, has failed to finish the ninth in four of his past five outings as a closer, blowing three saves and yielding six earned runs.

It makes sense that the Orioles would be interested in upgrading their bullpen seeing as how they have World Series aspirations this season. Baltimore is currently 26-13 through 39 games and leads the American League East by 0.5 games over the New York Yankees.

It remains to be seen how the Blue Jays will view their situation though. Right now, Toronto is 18-22 and in last place in the American League East, but they have spent a ton of money on George Springer, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and others recently, that they may want to see if this core can right the ship in the second half. Furthermore, Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette are free agents after 2025, so they may want to continue to ride it out with them as well.

Also, Romano is still under team control through 2025 as well, so trading him would see them forfeit the last year of team control over him. Also, how would they feel about trading him to a division rival?

One of the best closers in baseball over the last several years, the 31-year-old Romano has a 4.15 ERA and six saves this season. He's got three straight seasons of 23 saves or more and is a two-time All-Star.

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