Scherzer, others on the move? Schneider: 'We'll see in 24 hours'

TORONTO -- With one trade down and more to come, Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Cardinals at Rogers Centre felt like background noise.

This even featured the rarest sight of all, four late runs (one earned) allowed by Louis Varland in the ninth. The next 24 hours are all about the Trade Deadline, though, and at 52-60, the Blue Jays remain likely sellers.

“As far as I know, everyone’s getting on the plane,” manager John Schneider said. “We’ll see in 24 hours what shakes out, if anything.

“Guys are playing and they’re doing their part. They’re out there competing, and I know it’s hard for some of them. I like the way we played this series. I know it’s tough to get offense going, but we’ll regroup on the plane and get ready for Houston tomorrow.”

This is what mattered most from Sunday:

1. Would the Blue Jays move Max Scherzer?
The great Scherzer has already been traded three times in his big league career. If there’s a pitching-needy team out there, or even a team on the fringes of the race that has a pre-existing relationship with Scherzer, could there be a fourth?

“That’s for [general manager] Ross [Atkins] to figure out, and all of the things that are going to be flying around here,” Scherzer said. “I’m sure he’s going to be on phone calls until 6 in the morning. Who knows what’s going to happen here.”

Not every deal needs to be a blockbuster, and even coming off a great performance Sunday, Scherzer would be very unlikely to net the Blue Jays even a Top 30 prospect in a trade. Think more in terms of cash considerations or a player to be named later in order to land Scherzer in a spot he’s happy with to make one last run.

There’s still some history for Scherzer to chase down, too. He’s now at 3,512 strikeouts, just shy of Walter Johnson (3,515) for 10th in MLB history. While some public rankings list Johnson at 3,509, there are some discrepancies in record-keeping in the early 1900s when Johnson was pitching. Elias Sports Bureau, the official statistician of Major League Baseball, has Johnson at 3,515 strikeouts, so Scherzer is just four strikeouts away from claiming 10th place on the all-time list.

“It does mean something. When you’re talking about top 10 all time, it’s a significant milestone to reach,” Scherzer said. “If and when I get across that, it would be a really cool accomplishment.”

2. If Toronto “sells” starters … who’s going to pitch?
Between Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber and Scherzer, it’s possible that one or two starters are moved between now and 6 p.m. ET Monday. In the world that exists beyond the Trade Deadline … someone will need to start those games.

The first answer? Jameson Taillon, whom the Blue Jays acquired from the Cubs mid-game Sunday. Taillon comes along with cash considerations from the Cubs, given that he’s still earning $18 million this season, and the Blue Jays will send either a player to be named later or cash considerations of their own. That handles one rotation spot, but what if a second opens up?

Spencer Miles is already at 72 innings, and it sounds like the Blue Jays would like to keep him shortened up to manage that the rest of the way. Patrick Corbin is on the IL (left teres major strain), and there’s no clear “next man up,” so this could turn into a complicated puzzle very quickly.

Simeon Woods Richardson is coming off a nice stretch of starts down in Triple-A, now working as a traditional starter again, which could be an interesting option. Otherwise, Chad Dallas, CJ Van Eyk, Lazaro Estrada and Adam Macko could combine to cover some days.

3. The offense steps back to “normal”
In this case, “normal” isn’t a good thing. The Blue Jays are still the lowest-scoring offense in baseball, and while Luis Urías’ RBI double in the eighth inning gave Toronto a spark, there wasn’t much else produced Sunday afternoon.

This isn’t something that can be fixed at the Deadline because so many of the shortcomings belong to key players who are part of this lineup’s core. Another hitless day dropped Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s OPS back below .700 again, now sitting at .697.