During a lost season, the Blue Jays trade deadline was a win
It’s never a good sign when the trade deadline is the high point of your season. Especially when it includes moving a fan-favourite, workhorse starter and your No. 2 prospect. Or when a veteran pitcher on an expiring contract everyone thought would go stays put, then proceeds to throw 5.2 innings of one-run ball against a division leader. Or when a 36-year-old post-season batting hero also on an expiring deal sticks as well.
None of that is good when you’re 4.5 games out of a playoff spot with five teams to pass.
But that’s the Blue Jays following Monday’s trade deadline. Kevin Gausman and Arjun Nimmala are gone. Shane Bieber and George Springer remain (as does Max Scherzer). Also out the door are Daulton Varsho (who went 1-for-4 against his former team Monday night) and (mercifully for him) Jeff Hoffman, plus a few other farmhands.
“We felt that because we have so much support here, it wasn’t necessary that we trade them,” GM Ross Atkins said about Scherzer, Springer and Bieber after the deadline expired. “There was benefit to us continuing to compete, benefit to individuals like Max and George and Shane being here to impact others individually and impact us winning baseball games.”
Who’s in and who’s out
Why the deadline was the high point of the season is first and foremost because Toronto has underperformed to date, but also because of the additions Atkins made even without moving the three big-name vets. In are 10 new players, including starters Jose Soriano, Spencer Arrighetti and Jameson Taillon, plus utility man Josh Smith and prospects, including four who drop into the organization’s Top 25, according to MLB Pipeline
Soriano is the A+ acquisition (and the one who cost Nimmala and two other prospects); he’d be a No. 1 on many teams and slides into the No. 2 spot for the Jay behind Cy Young candidate Dylan Cease. Soriano’s fastball averages 96.7 and pairs with a sinker, curveball, splitter and occasional slider to induce a 52.3% groundball rate and 31.4% whiff rate. He’s 27 and is under team control for the next two seasons.
Arrighetti, 26, was the return for Varsho — and is something of a coup for Atkins. As Jays Sportsnet insider Shi Davidi wrote, “starters of his ilk are hard to acquire, especially for two months of Varsho.” He’s under control until 2030 with options and profiles as a back-of-the-rotation starter with upside for next season. He started this season with ace-like numbers, going 7-1 with a 1.34 ERA in April and May before hitters figured him out and is currently on the IL with nerve irritation in his foot.
Taillon and Smith are wildcards, or maybe reclamation projects. They’ve both shown promise in the past, with the former adding rotation depth now and the latter being the likeliest to stick around beyond this season. Smith can play a number of positions and has posted 700+ OPS numbers the past two seasons, winning the Utility Silver Slugger Award in 2024. But he’s a negative WAR player so far this season with an OPS of just .571.
Blue Jays futures
| To win the AL East | +29900 |
| To win the World Series | +12400 |
| Cease to win AL Cy Young | +110 |
*Odds subject to change
What the additions mean for 2027
For a team that doesn’t expect to be in this position next season, the Blue Jays trade deadline can only be called a success. With Soriano and Arrighetti in the mix, Toronto’s 2027 rotation looks like Cease, Soriano, Trey Yesavage and some combo of Arrighetti and the currently injured Jose Berrios, Cody Ponce and Bowden Francis next season. Plus whomever else Atkins pursues in free agency. That’s not a bad place to begin.
Assuming a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. rebound, good health for Alejandro Kirk, similar seasons from Kazuma Okamoto and Ernie Clement, the return of Addison Barger, and some additions around the diamond, the Jays just can get back to postseason contention. That’s the company line for sure.
The winter will prove important for Atkins. There are some intriguing free-agent possibilities for a team that needs impact outfielders and another big bat (plus you can never have enough good pitching). But there’s really nowhere to go than up from here in what can only be called a lost season.
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| Feature image courtesy AP Photo/Morry Gash via Canadian Press Images. Statistics via baseball-reference.com and baseballsavant.mlb.com. |
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