The Pittsburgh Pirates more than likely don’t have any plans on making a deep postseason run this season, meaning they will be sellers when the trade deadline comes around.
Andrew Heaney has been the most mentioned name to get moved at the deadline, but Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller has listed another Pittsburgh pitcher as a surprise trade candidate: Mitch Keller.
With three years remaining on his contract, Keller will be a big-time target if he is made available. Keller has had a bit of a rough time lately, as he’s allowed two-plus runs in each of his last four starts, including five to the San Diego Padres in his most recent outing. He has an ERA of 4.38 with 29 strikeouts across 39 innings and seven starts.
Despite his bad start, Miller still believes Keller could help a team not only this season, but for multiple seasons beyond this one.
“Mitch Keller with another year on top of that could be a long-term solution for a team with rotation concerns on the horizon. One of those teams is the Toronto Blue Jays,” Miller wrote.
Toronto is set to lose both Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer at the end of the season and being able to replace those two in the middle of the year would be a huge move for the Blue Jays. Keller is under team contract through 2028 and could become a staple in the Toronto rotation alongside Kevin Gausman for the remainder of this year along with next year as well.
If the Pirates continue to struggle and the Blue Jays can stay within striking distance of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the AL East, a move for Keller could put them over the top and help them win their first division championship since 2015.
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