Leo Morgenstern

The Blue Jays announced a transaction ahead of their game tonight against the Rangers. Michael Lorenzen has been designated for assignment after six appearances for Toronto. He gave up 11 runs on 18 hits in 11.2 innings. He took the fall for two losses, but also earned his first save since 2023. In place of Lorenzen, the Blue Jays have added 25-year-old José Rodríguez to their bullpen. If he gets in a game, it will be his MLB debut. The right-hander owns a 3.79 ERA and 3.56 FIP in 38 innings this year between the Blue Jays' and Dodgers' minor league systems. Toronto acquired him earlier this month in exchange for fellow minor league right-hander Sebastian Rodriguez. View full rumor

Over the winter, the Blue Jays signed Tyler Rogers to the richest relief pitcher contract in franchise history. If you weren't at least a little surprised by the $37 million guarantee he secured, you're either psychic, a Blue Jays front office employee, or a liar. The team at MLB Trade Rumors predicted he would sign a two-year, $18 million deal. Ben Clemens of FanGraphs was slightly higher on Rogers, proposing two years and $22 million. FanGraphs readers suggested a much lower number; their average prediction was $13.4 million guaranteed. The most lucrative projected contract I could find for Rogers (from a major media outlet) came from Kiley McDaniel at ESPN. Yet, even his relatively high guess – three years and $27 million – turned out to be $10 million too low. It's not that any of those sources doubted Rogers's talent. It's just that $37 million is a lot of money for a non-closer, and three years is a long guarantee for a reliever about to turn 35. According to the MLB Trade Rumors Contract Tracker, 24 relievers have signed a free agent contract worth at least $37 million in the last 20 years. The only one of them, besides Rogers, who wasn't an established closer was Jordan Hicks, and he doesn't really count. The Giants signed him to a four-year, $44 million deal with the goal of converting him into a starter. In that same 20-year span, just nine relievers have signed a three-year contract entering their age-35 (or older) season. Only three earned more than $25 million. The first was Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer of all time. The second was Robert Suarez, a two-time All-Star who led the NL in saves the year prior. The third was Tyler Rogers. From 2020-25, Rogers pitched more games and threw more innings than any other reliever in the league. He did so with a 2.84 ERA and 2.96 xERA. He was equal parts dominant and durable, thanks to a submarine delivery that helped him stifle opposing hitters without throwing high heat. Even so, his contract came as a surprise last winter. One season later, it's clear the Blue Jays knew exactly what they were doing. If anything, $37 million might not have been enough. Rogers has thrown 67.2 innings in 70 games for the Toronto. He owns a 1.73 ERA. He's pitching one of the greatest setup seasons the team has ever seen. Louis Varland is stealing most of the attention, and rightfully so. Yet, if it weren't for Varland, there's a good chance Rogers would have taken over the closing job when Hoffman struggled. If Rogers The Closer were to have anything like the success he's had as Rogers The Setup Man, he probably would have made his first All-Star team this summer. He probably would have earned consideration for the BBWAA Reliever of the Year Award this fall. That's how well Rogers has pitched this season – even if he's only the second best arm in his own bullpen. I'm not suggesting Rogers should resent Varland. The two owe each other a great deal of gratitude. Rogers has set Varland up for many of his 32 saves. Meanwhile, Varland taking over as the closer has allowed Rogers to continue rising up the holds leaderboard. Holds are not an "official MLB statistic", whatever that means. FanGraphs has data on holds dating back to 2002, and in that time, Rogers ranks 11th with 186 holds. He's one shy of cracking the top 10 and only 60 away from tying Tony Watson in first place. Rogers has already set the Blue Jays' single-season record (since 2002) with his 32 holds this year. His next hold this season will mark a new career high. He's never come particularly close to the league-wide record (41), but he is the only pitcher with five 30-hold seasons to his name. Scot Shields had four. David Robertson had four. Only a handful of pitchers have even reached 30 holds more than once. Perhaps it's a backhanded compliment to call Rogers one of the greatest setup men in recent history. Closers already have to deal with the "failed starter" criticisms. And you could say that setup men are just the guys who weren't good enough to be closers. That said, I don't think there's anything wrong with pointing out just how much Rogers has excelled at the job he's been asked to perform. He might be making a lot of money, but Tyler Rogers is absolutely holding up his end of the bargain. View full article

The Blue Jays welcome the Tigers to the Rogers Centre tonight for a three-game series. It's a must-win matchup for Toronto, in the same way every game from here on out feels like a must-win. Yet, there is arguably an even more meaningful series for the Blue Jays taking place a few hundred kilometers south, near the shores of Lake Erie. Over the next three days, the Guardians will face the White Sox at Progressive Field in Cleveland. If the White Sox take at least two of three from the Guardians while the Blue Jays take at least two of three from the Tigers, Toronto will be back in a Wild Card spot with nine games left to play. That's because the Jays only need to finish with the same record as the Guardians to beat them out for a postseason berth. A tie goes to the Blue Jays; they secured the season series earlier this month. Here's the problem. In their last 30 games, the Guardians are 18-12. Among AL teams, only the Yankees have a better record in that span. The White Sox, on the other hand, are two games below .500 in their last 30. They're five games below .500 in their last 15. That has brought Cleveland within half a game of the division lead. If the Guardians win this series, they will move ahead of the White Sox in the AL Central. If they sweep, they will move ahead in the division and secure the season-series tiebreaker. In that case, Chicago becomes the team to beat in the Wild Card race. And unfortunately for the Blue Jays, they lost their season series to the White Sox. So, the Guardians taking over in the AL Central would essentially push the Blue Jays an extra game back in the Wild Card standings. A tie with Cleveland gets Toronto into the playoffs, but a tie with Chicago won't cut it. When the White Sox swept the Blue Jays in April, it felt like a frustrating loss to a team the Blue Jays really should have beaten. It was a missed opportunity to get ahead. Now, losing that series might decide the Blue Jays' season. As for where the Blue Jays stand against their other Wild Card opponents, they have already lost the season series to the Rangers, which makes their three-game set in Arlington this weekend (yet another) must-win. Meanwhile, they need to win their series against the Orioles next week to clinch that tiebreaker. Finally, the Jays tied their season series with the Astros 3-3, which means that if the Rangers sneak ahead of the Astros in the AL West and it comes down to Houston and Toronto in the Wild Card, a Blue Jays-Astros tie would be decided by the two teams' records within their own divisions. The Blue Jays currently have the edge there; they own a 25-24 record in the AL East, compared to Houston's 22-24 record in the West. However, the Astros have six games left against the Mariners and A's to change that. View full article

George Springer only started one of Toronto's last four games, as he's been nursing discomfort in his non-dominant shoulder. However, he was able to pinch-hit on Sunday and again on Wednesday. Thankfully, it doesn't seem as if he'll need to go on the injured list. As manager John Schneider explained, the long season is starting to get to Springer, who turns 37 next week. Still, he can be available "if [the Blue Jays] need him." Springer hit .308 with a 144 wRC+ in July and August, and his strong second half is a big reason why the Blue Jays are only one game out of a Wild Card spot. Yet, he's gone just 3-for-24 in September. Playing through pain is nothing new for Springer, and indeed, his left shoulder has been bothering him for a while. So, hopefully, a little time to rest will help him to start producing again over the final weeks of the season. Here's a quick rundown of some more Blue Jays players who are dealing with injuries. In a best-case scenario, the Jays will soon get some reinforcements to help with their playoff push. Anthony Santander Anthony Santander played his first rehab game for Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday. The switch-hitter went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. He did not play yesterday. Santander is working his way back from shoulder surgery, which has kept him out all season. Considering how the first two years of his Blue Jays career have gone (he also missed much of 2025 with injuries), the Jays should take every precaution to make sure he's at full strength in 2027. That means they won't be rushing him back. However, the fact that he's playing rehab games right now means the team thinks he has a legitimate chance to contribute down the stretch. As long as he's healthy, Santander should be a notable upgrade over a bench bat like Sean Keys or Charles McAdoo. At his strongest, he's a middle-of-the-order game-changer who could supplant the underwhelming Jesús Sánchez in Toronto's lineup. Trey Yesavage Trey Yesavage (knee) threw a bullpen session earlier this week. Sportsnet's Arden Zwelling reported that his next step would be facing live hitters for about 30 pitches on Thursday. I haven't seen any reporting yet about how that session went, but in this case, no news is probably good news. Presuming no setbacks, I think a rehab start next week and a return to the Blue Jays the week after is a reasonable timeline. He likely won't be stretched out to make a full start by that point, but even three or four innings from Yesavage would be an upgrade over the (lack of a) fifth starter Toronto has right now. Shane Bieber Last weekend, John Schneider told reporters that Shane Bieber (shoulder) could get back on a mound this week, but I'm not sure how optimistic he was about it. His exact words were: "in a perfect world.” On Monday, Bieber played more catch on flat ground. That's the last bit of reporting we've seen about his progress. Schneider also said over the weekend that Bieber is on track to return about a week and a half after Yesavage. If that's still the case, the soonest I can realistically picture Bieber back on the team is in the Wild Card Series – presuming the Blue Jays make it there. A Yesavage/Bieber piggyback could be an interesting plan for a Wild Card round game. Cody Ponce I'll admit that sometimes I forget Cody Ponce is on the Blue Jays. The 2025 KBO MVP signed a three-year deal with Toronto last winter, then suffered a devastating knee injury in his first start of the season. When he went for ACL surgery in April, his estimated timeline to return was six months. That meant he could play again in 2026 if the Blue Jays advanced far enough into the playoffs. It seems his rehab has progressed on schedule, and a mid-October return remains possible. Zwelling's report has a pessimistic tone to me; he seems to place the emphasis on the fact that Ponce could only return if the Blue Jays survive long enough. Yet, for me, his tweet was an important reminder that Ponce still exists and still has a chance to pitch for the Jays in 2026. More Updates Jameson Taillon (elbow) returned from the IL on Saturday... and returned to the IL on Sunday. He is now set to meet with Dr. Keith Meister (per Zwelling). I'm sure the orthopedic surgeon is good at his job, but no ballplayer ever wants to meet him. Luis Urías (quad) was about to start a rehab assignment, but he suffered a setback. He was really good for the Jays for a few weeks, but we've heard very little about him lately. I'm not counting on anything more from Urías this season. View full article

Thanks for catching that. Updated to say "the highest win total by a Blue Jays team that failed to qualify for the playoffs in the Wild Card era."

In a rare Rodriguez-for-Rodriguez trade, the Blue Jays have sent minor league right-hander Sebastian Rodriguez to the Dodgers in exchange for José Rodríguez, himself a minor league right-handed pitcher. The younger Rodriguez, 20, made his professional debut for the Blue Jays Blue squad in the Dominican Summer League this year. He pitched nine innings over seven games, giving up six earned runs but striking out 11. The elder Rodriguez, 25, had been in the Dodgers' system since 2019. He owns a 4.16 ERA with 100 strikeouts in 71.1 career innings at the Triple-A level. The Blue Jays have assigned him to Triple-A Buffalo for now, but it's certainly possible he could make his MLB debut at some point later this month. View full rumor

If the Blue Jays had a hero in the first half of the 2026 season, it was Brandon Valenzuela. That's not to say the rookie catcher was Toronto's biggest star. But his success was wholly unexpected, and his breakout made a world of difference in keeping an injury-decimated ballclub afloat. He hit well, he fielded his position like a Gold Glover, and he managed a pitching staff that was churning through arms faster than a baby goes through diapers. If the Blue Jays had a hero in the first half, it was Valenzuela. He helped the team survive two months without their All-Star catcher, Alejandro Kirk. If the Blue Jays have a hero in the second half, it's Kirk himself. A Foul Start to the Season for Alejandro Kirk A foul tip to the thumb sent Kirk to the injured list a week into the season. He returned a month before the All-Star break. The next four weeks were rough. Alejandro Kirk exits in the bottom of the 10th inning with a left thumb injury. Kirk may have been healthy enough to play, but it's hard to believe his thumb was all the way back to full strength. Bat-to-ball ability wasn't an issue. He was squaring up the baseball just fine. The problem was that he wasn't swinging hard enough to do any damage. His average bat speed was down about two miles per hour compared to how he was swinging at the end of 2025. It's no coincidence, then, that the former Silver Slugger winner hit .217 with four extra-base hits in 21 games. His .217/.286/.304 slash line was poor, and the underlying data looked even worse. Only four AL batters took more trips to the plate in that span with a lower expected wOBA than Kirk. To add insult to injury, Valenzuela's bat crashed down to earth in the same stretch. From June 12 until the All-Star break, the two catchers combined for a .563 OPS and 59 wRC+. No number of blocks, caught stealing, or stolen strikes can make that lack of offense tenable. The Blue Jays needed more from their backstops. They needed more from Kirk. Over the last six weeks, Kirk has answered the call. Alejandro Kirk hits a two-run home run at the Rogers Centre on Sunday, August 30. Kirk Is Back, and the Blue Jays Are Too In 35 second-half games, Alejandro Kirk is batting .333 with six home runs. His .910 OPS ranks fourth among qualified AL batters. His .410 OBP ranks third. The only AL player with a higher FanGraphs WAR is Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan. Unsurprisingly, Kirk leads the Junior Circuit in the defensive component of fWAR. He blocks and frames pitches like an artist. We already knew that, and it never changed. His dominance at the plate won't be quite as sustainable, but don't let his high BABIP (.333) or the gap between his wOBA (.388) and xwOBA (.347) distract you from the fact that Kirk is back to being his old self. No, he won't keep pace with the game's best hitters forever. That's fine. What matters is that his bat speed is back up, and he's hitting the ball much harder than he was before the All-Star break. Maybe the .300/.400/.500 slash line isn't "real," but the bounceback is. For the season, Kirk has raised his OPS to .774 and his wRC+ to 115. That's right in line with his production from 2025. Among primary catchers with at least 200 PA, he ranks among the top 10 in both metrics. Despite his limited playing time, he also ranks among the top 10 catchers in Defensive Runs Saved (+7) and Fielding Run Value (+9). All things considered, this hasn't been the year Kirk was hoping for. That's obvious. Even so, he has been one of Toronto's best players. That speaks volumes to his talent and his ceiling. In the first season of his five-year contract extension, Kirk has been worth every penny (and more) of his $11.6 million average annual salary. The Blue Jays are 23-19 in the second half. They're 17-11 in August. Captain Kirk hasn't turned the ship around on his own, but no individual player has done more to get the Blue Jays back in the Wild Card than their catcher. Hopefully, with a bit more help in September, he can steer this club back into a playoff position. View full article

The Royals were supposed to be one of the Blue Jays' weaker opponents down the stretch, but KC has been hot lately. The Jays dropped their series with the Royals last week, suffering a particularly embarrassing 13-2 loss in the rubber match. Thankfully, over the weekend, the Blue Jays took three of three from the Mariners, completing their first series sweep since June 16-18 in Boston. It was their first sweep at home since their very first series of the season against the A's. The Jays are now 3.5 games ahead of the M's in the Wild Card standings; according to FanGraphs, Toronto's playoff odds are now higher than Seattle's for the first time all year. Taking the season series against the Mariners was only the first challenge in the Blue Jays' stretch run quest. They may be well ahead of the Mariners in the Wild Card race, but they're still half a game behind the Orioles and 1.5 behind the Guardians, who currently hold the AL's final postseason berth. On Tuesday, the Jays head to Cleveland for a pivotal three-game set – perhaps the most pivotal of their season. The good kind of sweep could put them back in the playoff picture. The bad kind would be a major hit to their Wild Card hopes. Then, they'll head to Kansas City in search of revenge. Before all of that, here's a quick recap of the week that was in Blue Jays baseball. Toronto Blue Jays Week in Review (August 25-30) Tuesday, August 25: KCR 5, TOR 3 Another big game for Brett Bateman: 3-for-5 with two of the Jays' three runs. Andrés Giménez returns after several games off. He goes 2-for-3 with a double and a hit-by-pitch. Nathan Lukes ends the game trying to stretch a two-run single into a double. Wednesday, August 26: TOR 3, KCR 0 Who needs a fifth starter? The bullpen pitches a shutout. Chad Dallas earns the win with the best game of his brief MLB career: eight up, eight down – with four strikeouts. Save number 30 for Louis Varland. Thursday, August 27: KCR 13, TOR 2 Another mediocre outing from Spencer Arrighetti. He's 0-2 in his first two games with the Jays. Simeon Woods Richardson lets the Royals blow the game open. After pitching to a 1.04 ERA in his first 17.1 innings with Toronto, SWR finally faltered. George Springer homers for the first time in nearly a month. Friday, August 28: TOR 8, SEA 1 Springer goes 4-for-4, homers for a second day in a row; Lukes hits his fourth homer in his last seven games. Dylan Cease throws another quality start, strikes out eight. Paul Sewald makes his sixth appearance for Toronto. He's yet to allow a run. Saturday, August 29: TOR 4, SEA 3 Hall of Excellence opened, Buck Martinez honored. José Soriano goes seven. Alejandro Kirk swipes a bag. Sunday, August 30: TOR 7, SEA 0 Max Scherzer turns back the clock, strikes out 10 in seven scoreless frames. Springer, Kirk, Bateman continue to shine. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hits his third double of the week (but still no homers at home). Toronto Blue Jays Transactions of the Week Chad Dallas recalled to replace an injured Shane Bieber. Blue Jays sign Michael Lorenzen to a major league deal. Chad Dallas optioned. Blue Jays call up CJ Van Eyk, DFA Simeon Woods Richardson (again). Toronto Blue Jays Injury Updates of the Week Shane Bieber hits the IL with right teres major inflammation, retroactive to August 21. He will be shut down from throwing for at least another week. Yimi García has thoracic outlet surgery. Joe Mantiply continues his rehab assignment, moves up to Triple-A Buffalo. Josh Smith starts a rehab assignment. Jameson Taillon starts a rehab assignment. Anthony Santander is hitting off a machine, still eyeing a return in 2026. View full article