The Toronto Blue Jays have been ransacked with injuries this season. As a result, the team has struggled. The Blue Jays entered Thursday with a 27-29 record and is third in the American League East.

Even with Toronto's struggles, it is still in the thick of the playoff hunt and tied with the Athletics and Minnesota Twins for the final wild card spot in the American League.

This has led to an added emphasis for the Blue Jays to add via the trade market to make that extra push back to contender status. Most of the rumors and potential trade targets for Toronto has come on the pitching side of things.

The Blue Jays have had six starting pitchers land on the injured list this season, with the most recent being ace Dylan Cease.

One of the players Toronto has been linked to has been two-time defending American League Cy Young winner and Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal.

However, according to one MLB insider, it seems more likely that another notable starter is dealt than Skubal.

"I would say (New York Mets starter) Freddy Peralta is much more likely to be traded than Tarik Skubal. At least right now," Ken Rosenthal said on the Foul Territory podcast. "And the caveat here, and I mentioned this the other day, we are more than two months away from the (trade) deadline. It is an eternity in baseball. The Tigers, as poorly as they're playing and they're playing poorly, if they get Skubal back within the next couple weeks, and that certainly is the anticipation, if they get it going a little bit ... it's entirely reasonable to think that they might be back in contention in a weak American League Central, in a week American League."

Skubal was placed on the injured list May 4 (retroactive to May 1) due to a procedure to clear out loose bodies in his left elbow. He has a 2.70 ERA and has struck out 45 batters in 43.1 innings pitched across seven starts this season.

Even with the possibility Detroit is back in contention by the time Skubal, there is an extra incentive the team has to potentially deal him.

Skubal is set to be an unrestricted free agent after this season. He's currently being paid $32 million, a record for a single-season salary for a player under arbitration.

The New York Mets, however, play in a much-tougher National League. The Mets are 23-33 and last in the National League East. New York is seven games out of the final wild card spot in the NL.

Peralda has posted a 3.52 ERA this year and has fanned 63 batters in 61.1 innings pitched across 11 starts.

One of the six hurlers that has missed time for the Blue Jays this season, Trey Yesavage, returned last month and has been pitching well since. However, Shane Bieber and Max Scherzer is still out, Jose Berrios (Tommy John surgery) and Cody Ponce (ACL surgery) are out for the season and Cease's timeline is still unclear.

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