UPDATE: Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins spoke about Dickey on MLB Network Radio this weekend.
Atkins on RA Dickey: "We'll listen on any player, certainly not actively shopping him"
— MLB Network Radio (@MLBNetworkRadio) January 10, 2016
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UPDATE: Here's some insight on what Sanchez wants to do next season:
Aaron Sanchez wants to start & has been working towards it this winter in Durham with the same trainers who directed Stroman's knee rehab
— Arden Zwelling (@ArdenZwelling) January 9, 2016
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On Friday the Toronto Blue Jays acquired reliever Drew Storen from the Washington Nationals in exchange for outfielder Ben Revere. It was one of the bigger moves of the offseason for the Jays, and rumors suggest they might not be done yet.
Jeff Blair of Sportsnet.ca says scouts are telling him the team is considering trading starter R.A. Dickey. Toronto picked up Dickey's $12 million team option for the 2016 season as their starting rotation took a hit when David Price signed with the Boston Red Sox.
The Blue Jays re-signed starter Marco Estrada, added J.A. Happ on a three-year deal and acquired Jesse Chavez from the Oakland Athletics this offseason to bolster that unit, which means they can perhaps afford to move Dickey and fill other voids on their roster.
The addition of Storen on Friday night gives the team a chance to move Aaron Sanchez into the rotation, which was discussed shortly after the season came to an end. It was believed the Jays would attempt to stretch out Sanchez or closer Roberto Osuna as starters in order to address the future of the rotation (Dickey will be a free agent after 2016 and it's unknown if Drew Hutchison is going to be an effective starter). Sanchez and Osuna were the anchors of the bullpen in the postseason after Brett Cecil went down with an injury.
Still, Sanchez could ultimately join the rotation. He logged 11 starts in 2015 (5-4, 3.55 ERA in 66 innings) before he was moved to the bullpen. Also, Osuna's tremendous success as the team's closer may not have manager Jonh Gibbons or the front office inclined to move him out of that role.
"Despite his questionable results as a starter, the temptation to use him as one persists," writes Nick Ashbourne of Sportsnet.ca. "The simple logic is that 200 good innings in the rotation trumps 60 great innings in relief. If Sanchez can even be an average starter he'll carry more value than he does pitching late in games.
"Sanchez's first rotation audition may not have inspired the most confidence, but his abilities are tantalizing in that he has great velocity and induces a tonne of ground balls."
Is it possible the team is working to make a permanent spot for him in the rotation to avoid having him start 2016 as a reliever? Sanchez would be a much cheaper option given he's under club control through 2020 at a bargain rate while Dickey will provide value for just one more year.
The rotation could then consist of Marcus Stroman, Sanchez, Chavez, Happ and Estrada.
Then again, Dickey epitomizes consistency. The knuckleballer has thrown over 208 innings per season since 2011 and owns a 3.95 ERA in 101 starts with the Blue Jays since arriving in 2013.
New team president and CEO Mark Shapiro might have a different vision for this Blue Jays team, so if Dickey is moved it wouldn't be all that shocking.
