Multiple organizations have put in calls to the Rockies on southpaw Boone Logan, according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com (links to Twitter). The Blue Jays are among the clubs to have inquired, according to the report.
Logan has had quite an impressive campaign, though he’s best deployed as a pure LOOGY. After two straight season of subpar results in Colorado, Logan has posted a strong 2.48 ERA with 10.6 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9. He has, though, issued quite a few free passes to right-handed hitters in limited exposure.
Still, a premium left-on-left matchup arm would be of great interest around the league. The veteran has always generated whiffs, but he has taken a step forward this year with a 17.0% swinging strike rate that ranks eighth in all of baseball (minimum 20 innings). That’s quite a nice pairing with a 53.8% groundball rate. And Logan has bumped up his fastball velocity a bit over recent years, too, and is sitting right at a 93 mph average.
Notably, Logan is a pure rental, as his three-year deal wraps up this year with a $6.25MM salary. While Colorado has moved up in the standings of late, the club is still looking a long ways up at the two NL West stalwarts — not to mention a tough crop of Wild Card contenders.
As for the Jays’ interest, it’s important to note that the team is surely looking elsewhere as well. Indeed, it appears to be focused on the southpaw side of its pen while also angling to bolster its rotation. Per Morosi, Toronto has had a “high volume” of chatter on lefty relievers. The club’s current depth chart features a struggling Brett Cecil and the just-activated Franklin Morales as southpaw options.
There figure to be many other teams eyeing southpaw relievers — who are always popular this time of year. And there are other pieces that could join Logan on the market. Among those who rated among MLBTR’s top fifty trade candidates are Will Smith of the Brewers, Fernando Abad of the Twins, Zach Duke of the White Sox, and Logan’s teammate Jake McGee. Notably, of those names, only Logan is a pending free agent.
bradthebluefish
Boone Logan looks great on paper and will look even better once he gets out of Colorado.
Matt Galvin
Hopefully happens tonight along with another LH Hudson.
aff10
Hudson’s right-handed
Ted
The Jays for sure could use a LOOGY in the pen. Calling on Cecil to get Papi or Chris Davis out in a playoff run (or the playoffs themselves) will make any Jays fan cringe.
MB923
Small sample , but Davis is 6-14 off Logan with a 2B, 3B and HR. Papi is 4-17 with 2 2B.
BoldyMinnesota
I thought he’d be a good target, and Cecil’s seemed to turn a bit of a corner lately, so they could be a good lefty tandem.
chris to.
Just out of curiosity, why are the Blue Jays listed in the headline? I realize teams are interested and specific players, Boone in this situation, are drawing interest across the league. Would including the Blue Jays in the headline be a way of saying that they are the perceived front-runners for him?
fsinopoli
They’re included because they are the only team that is known to have interest and Morosi reported that they’ve called the Rockies about him.
Multiple other teams have interest as well, but the Jays are the only ones that he knows about specifically.
stormie
Because they were specifically mentioned in Morosi’s tweets. I doubt it means they’re a frontrunner, it just means he has a source that has confirmed they’ve asked about him.
Jeff Todd
Not necessarily, just the one team specifically cited in the report.
sunset117
With the going rate he’s going to get a decent prospect bad : /
Does anyone have concerns about the small sample or that last year his era was above 4.3? I guess he’s having a solid year, and I haven’t seen him in person so I can’t say (his numbers do look good) but idk. Be careful!
Polish Hammer
Cleveland is in dire need of a lefty arm in the pen.
Howard-NY13
Logan would be a good piece in the Indians bullpen cuz they NEED a lefty, same thing with the Marlins