Article: Last-Minute Trade: Blue Jays Acquire RHP Louis Varland and 1B Ty France from Minnesota

[Jesse Burrill]

The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired RHP Louis Varland and 1B Ty France from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for OF Alan Roden and LHP Kendry Rojas.

Varland, 27, has spent all four of his big league seasons with the Twins, shuttling between the bullpen and the rotation before moving into a full-time relief role in 2025. He relies on a five-pitch mix: a fastball that averages 98 mph, a knuckle curve, a sinker, a slider, and a changeup. On the season, he has a 2.02 ERA and is having his best year when it comes to inducing groundballs (54.5%) and limiting home runs (three in 49 IP on the season). He’ll immediately slide into the Blue Jays' bullpen. He does have 22 games of MLB starting experience, for what it's worth.

It's interesting to see where he ends up in Toronto's bullpen. He could be used in a long relief role, as he has been a starter in the past, but he’s only had three outings this year of more than one inning, and that will likely continue.

The fastball will play, as the Blue Jays wanted to add more velocity to their bullpen. On the season, Blue Jays' relievers averaged 94.2 mph on their fastballs, which is 21st in baseball. Varland, along with the newly acquired Seranthony Domínguez, will help add some firepower to the Blue Jays' bullpen. With his fastball velocity, ability to induce groundballs, and ability to limit home runs, he’s going to be counted on as a key member of the relief corps down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Varland is also under team control until 2031 and isn't arbitration-eligible until 2027. The Blue Jays have placed a lot of value on team control over the last few deadlines, and Varland is no exception. As long as he remains effective, he should be a key part of the Blue Jays' bullpen for years to come.

Ty France, 31, has spent time with four MLB teams during his career. On the season, he has six home runs while running a .678 OPS. At first glance, it seems like playing time may be tough to come by for France on this roster. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is locked in at first base, and George Springer, and eventually Anthony Santander, seem to be locking down the DH spot. The Blue Jays did make a separate trade to move Will Wagner earlier in the day, so in theory, France could play some third base, but it's a position he hasn’t played since 2022.

The Blue Jays have relied on their bench bats to gain platoon advantages for most of the season, but France doesn’t have dramatic splits in either direction. On the season, He has an 89 wRC+ vs. left-handers compared to 93 vs. right-handers, and in his career, it's an even 111 wRC+ against pitchers from both sides. Ross Atkins did say in his post-trade deadline press conference that France will get a chance to hit against left-handed pitching. So that seems to be his role going forward.

Alan Roden was hitting .204 with a .589 OPS on the season, but he was the Blue Jays' No. 3 prospect coming into the year (per FanGraphs). Roden was the talk of the team during spring training, when he hit .407 with two home runs, and a monster 1.244 OPS and made the team as the 26th man. It was even more impressive, as Atkins called him out at the start of spring training, and he went on to excel. He still provides incredible bat-to-ball skills and has still hit well against Triple-A pitching on the season (.918 OPS in 32 games). Roden should get plenty of playing time in Minnesota, as they traded away Harrison Bader and Willi Castro at this trade deadline.

Rojas, 22 years old, was recently promoted to Triple-A. Through three levels on the season, he has pitched to a 3.46 ERA with a 2.46 FIP. He was one of the fastest-rising prospects in the Blue Jays' system. His fastball has taken a tick up this year to the 94-95 mph range and touched as high as 97 mph. The young left-hander has dealt with injuries throughout his minor league career, as his 84 innings thrown in 2023 were his career high.

On the whole, the Blue Jays addressed most of their needs this deadline. They acquired a player with the potential to be a front-line starter when they traded for Guardians pitcher Shane Bieber earlier in the day. They needed some firepower in the bullpen, and with Garland and Domínguez, they solved that problem, too. France may not be the most exciting name, but the Blue Jays did want another right-handed bat, and he fits that description.

The biggest hit to the organization was on the pitching side, as the Blue Jays lost pitching prospects Rojas, Khal Stephen, and Juaron Watts-Brown in three separate trades. All three players had seen their prospect stock rise in 2025 with some good performances in the minor leagues, and the Blue Jays were able to cash in on their success to help bolster the big league roster today. It's also worth noting, the Blue Jays were able to get through the deadline without having to give up top shortstop prospect Arjun Nimmala and top pitching prospect Trey Yesavage, who both remain Toronto Blue Jays for the time being. They also held on to second-round pick Johnny King, who has been another pitching prospect making noise in the system.

With the trade deadline now passed, there aren’t any more ways for the Blue Jays to add impact players to their roster between now and the MLB postseason. If the Blue Jays are going to win just their second AL East title since the 1993 World Series, then this is the group of players that is going to have to do it, and the Blue Jays are betting that Louis Varland and Ty France were the last two missing pieces that can help push them over the top.

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[Mike LeSage]

I'm willing to find a way to love Ty France, but it's certainly not immediate.

[Eat My Shatkins]

It's going to be interesting to see if the Jays try to stretch Varland back out into a starter next year. Seems like it would be a good idea to try.

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

This is a real bummer for Twins fans and a real boon for Jays fans. Varland is legit, the kind of bulldog reliever you're happy to pitch the eighth for four years.

[Eat My Shatkins]

15 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

This is a real bummer for Twins fans and a real boon for Jays fans. Varland is legit, the kind of bulldog reliever you're happy to pitch the eighth for four years.

So no real chance they try him as a starter again?

[Brock Beauchamp]

7 minutes ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

So no real chance they try him as a starter again?

It's possible, but I wouldn't. He's a legit reliever who can provide quality late innings. Whereas his starter profile was pretty meh.

[Brownie19]

I don't understand this Ty France thing at all. 

[dancingmachine]

The RP is fine but TY France when we needed a homerun guy makes no sense.

[John_Havok]

10 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

I don't understand this Ty France thing at all. 

Me neither. The best we can hope for is they identified him as a guy they think they can tweak into more pop quickly...otherwise, its a wtf addition

[Grant77]

11 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

I don't understand this Ty France thing at all. 

He doesn't walk, he doesn't hit for power, he doesn't hit lefties or righties well, he doesn't play good defense, he's slow, he's not versatile.

I have difficulty seeing what role he fills or how he can help us. If he knocks Davis Schneider off of the roster then I think we're a worse team. 

[Brownie19]

25 minutes ago, Grant77 said:

He doesn't walk, he doesn't hit for power, he doesn't hit lefties or righties well, he doesn't play good defense, he's slow, he's not versatile.

I have difficulty seeing what role he fills or how he can help us. If he knocks Davis Schneider off of the roster then I think we're a worse team. 

I tend to agree (although his defense at 1st is quite good I read).  

[Grant77]

11 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

I tend to agree (although his defense at 1st is quite good I read).  

I have heard that as well. Advanced stats had him as average for a while, absolutely horrendous last year, and then the best he's ever been this season. I don't know what to expect.