Jump to content
Jays Centre
  • Create Account

  • Toronto Blue Jays Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

    The latest Toronto Blue Jays free agent and trade rumors, along with notes and tidbits about the team.
    Show all categories
    Leo Morgenstern
    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. 
    Leo Morgenstern
    The Blue Jays have placed Shane Bieber on the 15-day injured list with right teres major inflammation. Chad Dallas has been recalled to take his place on the active roster.
    With just over a month left in the 2026 regular season, there's no small chance this marks the end of Bieber's tenure with the Blue Jays. He will be a free agent at the end of the year. 
    Toronto is still in the postseason picture, sitting just two games back of the final Wild Card spot, but pulling off a comeback will be even harder without Bieber in the rotation. The 2020 AL Cy Young winner dominated the Yankees and Rays in his last two starts.
    Dylan Cease and José Soriano are a strong top two, but now the Jays will have to rely even more heavily on 42-year-old Max Scherzer and the just-off-the-IL Spencer Arrighetti. They'll also hope that Jameson Taillon and Trey Yesavage can return from the IL at some point in September. Of course, Bieber himself could return in September too, but we won't know more about the severity of his injury until the team provides an update.
    Leo Morgenstern
    The Blue Jays swapped out an experienced righty for a rookie southpaw earlier today. Matt Waldron has been designated for assignment after a couple of weeks with the Jays. The 29-year-old made four appearances, pitching 4.1 innings and giving up five runs. Taking his place will be Brendan Cellucci, who is looking to make his MLB debut.
    Cellucci, 28, signed a minor league contract with Toronto over the offseason. He spent the first several years of his professional career in the Red Sox's system. The lefty owns a 3.68 ERA and 4.24 xERA in 44 innings for Triple-A Buffalo this season. 
    Leo Morgenstern
    Yeah, I know, I'm a little late to the party on this. But we couldn't just not have anything on the site about all the news from before today's game. Here's the rundown:
    Ricky Tiedemann was promoted for his MLB debut. Chase Lee was optioned back to Buffalo. That's option number five for Lee this season.  Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is in concussion protocol. He's out for at least a week. Daz Cameron had his contract selected from Triple-A Buffalo. He's on the roster now. Lazaro Estrada was designated for assignment. Similar to Lee, he had been optioned the maximum number of times, which limited his flexibility. A player can't be optioned more than five times in a season. Tiedemann made his debut this afternoon, tossing 1.2 innings. He gave up one run on two hits and struck out two. 
    Jesse Burrill
    The Toronto Blue Jays have claimed right-handed pitcher Paul Sewald, who was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks earlier in the week.
    Sewald, a veteran of 10 MLB seasons, has a 6.23 ERA this season. He has 110 major league saves in his career.
    The righty will join a Blue Jays bullpen that has thrown more innings as a unit than any team in baseball since August 1 and is in need of reinforcements.
    Sewald is primarily a fastball-slider pitcher. He had a 3.18 ERA entering June 23rd but has allowed 17 earned runs in 14 innings since then. He now gives John Schneider another veteran option with major league experience in the back end of the bullpen.
    Leo Morgenstern
    The Blue Jays placed right-hander Jameson Taillon on the 15-day injured list today with right forearm tendinitis. He exited yesterday's game early, citing tightness in his pitching arm. He had thrown four scoreless innings against the Red Sox.
    Taillon is the latest member of the Blue Jays' rotation to hit the IL. He joins Trey Yesavage, Patrick Corbin and fellow trade acquisition Spencer Arrighetti on the shelf, as well as José Berríos, Cody Ponce, and Bowden Francis, all of whom are out for the season. Dylan Cease, Shane Bieber, and Max Scherzer also spent time on the IL earlier this year.
    The Blue Jays recalled Chase Lee to take Taillon's spot on the active roster. The team has several candidates to take Taillon's next turn in the rotation, including Spencer Miles, Simeon Woods Richardson, and Matt Waldron, who are all currently pitching out of the bullpen. More starting depth in the minors includes Lazaro Estrada, Chad Dallas, and CJ Van Eyk.
    Matthew Lenz
    Before the trade deadline struck midnight, rumors were swirling that the Toronto Blue Jays were open to trading the newly acquired Jose Soriano. It was news that surprised many, considering they had acquired him on August 3rd for top prospect Arjun Nimmala.
    Now, a week after the deadline passed, we're getting more details on what those talks entailed. Dan Hayes and Mitch Bannon of The Athletic are reporting that the Minnesota Twins "pursued" Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Jose Soriano. They go on to say it was a "package built around the organization’s No. 3 prospect, infielder Kaelen Culpepper, and other pieces."
    The deal obviously couldn't get over the finish line, and so the two sides agreed on a trade involving reliever Jeff Hoffman. Culpepper has since made his major league debut with the Twins.
    Soriano, 27, was one of the top starting arms on the market over the trade deadline. This was despite a high walk rate and a FIP about half a run higher than his 3.24 ERA. He was particularly attractive as a starter who is controllable through 2028.
    Do you think the Blue Jays' asking price was too high? Join the conversation in the comments!
    Bryan Jaeger
    Brett Bateman, 24, was one of the two prospects that the Toronto Blue Jays acquired in the trade that sent Kevin Gausman to the Chicago Cubs. Bateman is replacing Luis Urías, who was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained quad. Rudy Martin Jr. was designated for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. 
    In Triple A this season, Bateman slashed .311/.429/.416 with 61 runs, three home runs, 33 knocked in, and 20 stolen bases. He adds more depth in the outfield and a left-handed bat off the bench. He could platoon in center field with Myles Straw, so he may not have to wait long to make his debut.
    Leo Morgenstern
    The Blue Jays and Rangers have agreed on a trade that will send utility player Josh Smith and minor league right-hander Josh Stephan to Toronto in exchange for left-hander Adam Macko. Evan Grant (The Dallas Morning News) and Ken Rosenthal (The Athletic) had the scoop.
    Smith, 28, has played every position except pitcher and catcher, though third base is where he's most comfortable. The lefty batter hit .254 with 23 home runs, 23 steals, a 107 wRC+ and 4.7 fWAR in just under 300 games with the Rangers from 2024-25. However, a glute strain limited his playing time this year, and he has struggled at the plate over 45 games, batting just .213 with one home run and a 65 wRC+. His underlying quality-of-contact metrics aren't much better.
    This isn't a needle-moving acquisition for Toronto, but Smith is a versatile depth piece. He has options remaining, and he's under team control through arbitration in 2027 and '28, should the Jays choose to keep him around.
    Macko, 25, is part of the Teoscar Hernández trade tree. He joined the Blue Jays organization from the Mariners in 2022 and made his MLB debut earlier this year. The southpaw has a 4.91 ERA/4.88 xERA in 22 innings for the Jays, and a 4.07 ERA/4.41 xERA in another 24.1 frames with Triple-A Buffalo. 
    The Jays have optioned and recalled Macko several times this year, but he ranks second among the team's left-handers in appearances. It's worth wondering if Ross Atkins is planning to add some new left-handed depth to replace him on the roster.
    Finally, Stephan, 24, has spent the season with the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate. He has a 5.44 ERA/4.98 xERA in 101 innings pitched. FanGraphs ranked him as the team's No. 21 prospect at the beginning of the season. They gave him a 40 FV grade, describing his "perfect-world outcome" as a No. 5 starter, though a future as a spot starter/long reliever seems more likely.
    Bryan Jaeger
    The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired Jameson Taillon from the Chicago Cubs for cash considerations on Sunday, August 2. He was designated for assignment on July 27, but the move adds depth to a pitching staff that has been plagued by injuries all season. However, it may also be a precursor to a move that sees Kevin Gausman or Shane Bieber dealt away, as they're both available.
    Taillon has struggled this season, posting a 5.92 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, and 68:27 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 76 innings. He pitched for Team Canada in the 2013 and 2026 World Baseball Classic, so it's a full-circle moment seeing him in Toronto. The Blue Jays are short on MLB-ready starting pitchers, especially if Gausman and/or Bieber are dealt, so Taillon brings experience to a starting rotation hoping to still be competitive in the second half of the season.
     
    Steve Drumwright
    While interleague play has knocked down a lot of the walls of a player being a better fit for one league over the other, sometimes a player just feels more comfortable in either the AL or NL.
    Could that be the case for Toronto Blue Jays right-handed reliever Jeff Hoffman?
    According to a report Saturday by Robert Murray of FanSided, the Chicago Cubs are among the teams interested in the Blue Jays' former closer. The Cubs entered Saturday as the top NL wild-card team. Hoffman finished an MLB-leading 59 games in 2025 with 33 saves, but did have issues down the stretch before becoming more reliable in the Jays' run to the World Series.
    But this year, those troubles persisted and he lost his role as the closer. He entered Saturday with a 2.46 FIP (4.02 ERA) in 50 appearances and 47 innings. Hoffman has a walk rate of 8.1% and a strikeout rate of 35.2%, both career bests. He has five saves in nine chances, but none since May 23.
    Hoffman is making $12.667 million this year and next year, but the Blue Jays are willing to move on from him with the team having never really been in contention this season and his erratic performance as a closer.
    He had success in a setup role in two seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies as well as one of his two years with the Cincinnati Reds. He began his MLB career with the Colorado Rockies.
    Steve Drumwright
    With the Toronto Blue Jays in sell mode after a disappointing first four months of the season, the players on expiring contracts are more likely than not to be wearing another uniform next week.
    Center fielder Daulton Varsho is one of those and he is drawing a good bit of interest, but not necessarily for his bat, but for the tremendous defense he provides.
    Among the teams looking for a center fielder is the Philadelphia Phillies, who indeed have "interest" in Varsho, according to MLB insider Jon Heyman. The Phillies are 6½ games off Atlanta's NL East lead, while tie with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second (and third) NL wild card after Philadelphia was swept by the Miami Marlins. 
     
    While the Phillies are in need of an offensive boost—they rank 22nd in team OPS at .703—Varsho would provide more experience in center field than rookie Justin Crawford with maybe a nudge in the power department. Varsho has a .247/.308/.383 slash line with seven homers and 26 RBIs in 96 games to Crawford's .257/.306/.339 with two homers and 23 RBIs in 99 games. Crawford does have more steals 13-9.
    There are other pieces the Phillies and Jays match. Right-handed starters Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber are free agents after the year, while the Jays could also spin off bullpen pieces such as right-handed closer Jeff Hoffman.
     
    Brock Beauchamp
    How To Install On iPhone or iPad
    How To Install On Android Device
    Developing a pure, native app for either Android or iOS is a breathtakingly expensive endeavor, which is why we haven’t done it, despite so many requests over the years. Thankfully, technology has met us halfway, and PWAs (Progressive Web Applications) have reached maturity in the marketplace.
    What is a PWA? It’s effectively a pseudo-app that works much like a native application but doesn’t require tens of thousands of dollars in development to produce. It creates a single browser instance and maintains it as if it were an application. It’s basically a standalone browser tab, dedicated specifically to Jays Centre.
    From this app instance, you can receive notifications; the typical browser interface is removed, and the site is presented clearly, using as much screen real estate as possible, all without sacrificing any functionality. The site is faster, more reliable, and offers more mobile functionality than a standard web browser.
    Additionally, a newer, completely updated Jays Centre is coming later this year, and that will add even more app-like features, making PWA usage even better for all our users.
    With that said, here’s how you turn Jays Centre into an app on your mobile device.
    How To “Install” Jays Centre on iPhone or iPad Using Safari
    First, go to the home page of Jays Centre at https://jayscentre.com/.
    1. Tap on the ellipses (…) at bottom right of screen.
    2. Tap “Share” in pop-up menu.

    3. Tap “View More”.
    4. Tap “Add To Home Screen”.
    5. Tap “Add”.

    That takes you to your home screen on iOS, where you can move the Jays Centre app around, just as you would any other app.
    Additionally, you can turn on notifications for them. Just go to the following link while logged into the site: https://jayscentre.com/notifications/options/.

    How To “Install” Jays Centre on an Android Device Using Chrome
    First, go to the home page of Jays Centre at https://jayscentre.com/.
    1. Tap on the vertical ellipses (…) at top right of screen.
    2. Tap “Share…” in pop-up menu.

    3. Tap “Add to Home Screen”.
    4. Tap “Install”.

    That takes you to your home screen on Android, where you can move the Jays Centre app around, just as you would any other app.
    Additionally, you can turn on notifications for the site. Just go to the following link while logged into the site: https://jayscentre.com/notifications/options/.

    Leo Morgenstern
    According to reporter Ari Alexander of 7News Boston, the Toronto Blue Jays have claimed outfielder Rudy Martin Jr. off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles. 
    Martin, 30, has had a long minor league career, primarily in the Kansas City Royals organization. Drafted in 2014, he finally made it onto a 40-man roster earlier this month, when he exercised an upward mobility clause in his latest minor league pact with Kansas City, prompting a trade to Baltimore. The Orioles added him to their 40-man roster last week, but they subsequently DFA'd him on Monday. 
    Martin will presumably report to Triple-A Buffalo, though he will need a spot on Toronto's 40-man roster. The Jays could move Addison Barger or Lenyn Sosa to the 60-day IL to make room. 
    In 64 games between Double and Triple A this season, the lefty-batting Martin is hitting .284 with a 127 wRC+ and 33 stolen bases. He has played all three outfield positions.
    Leo Morgenstern
    The Blue Jays have placed Patrick Corbin on the 15-day injured list with a teres major strain. The left-hander gave up four runs on seven hits over 2.1 innings in his latest outing. He owns an 8.18 ERA in four appearances since moving to the bullpen. Corbin is known for his durability; this is his first non-COVID-related IL stint since he had Tommy John surgery in 2014.
    In Corbin's place, Toronto recalled fellow southpaw Adam Macko. The rookie got off to a hot start for the Blue Jays, holding his opponents scoreless in 14 of his first 15 games. Unfortunately, he has given up nine runs in five innings over his last four appearances for the big league club. He now owns a 5.03 ERA (and a 4.80 xERA) on the season, with a 4.18 ERA/4.08 xERA at Triple-A Buffalo.
    In an additional transaction, the Jays sent a struggling Sean Keys back down to the Bisons. The 23-year-old dominated minor league pitching over the first three months of the season, earning his call to the show in late June. Since then, he has often looked overwhelmed by major league arms, going just 6-for-36 with one walk, one home run, and 13 strikeouts. He only played in four of the team's last 10 games.
    Davis Schneider will return to replace Keys on the bench. The fan favourite has been the definition of a quad-A player this year. He has embarrassed minor league pitching in a couple of stints with the Buffalo Bisons (173 wRC+), but frustratingly, he's never looked worse at the major league level.
    Leo Morgenstern
    In the five-year, $110 million contract that Kevin Gausman signed with the Toronto Blue Jays before the 2022 season, the right-hander negotiated a limited no-trade clause. He has the right to reject a trade to eight of the other 29 teams. 
    Today, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported which teams those are: the Reds, Brewers, Tigers, Mets, Athletics, White Sox, Pirates, and Mariners.
    Of those teams, the Reds, Mets, and Athletics will not be buyers at the trade deadline, while the Tigers are still on the fence. The Pirates are interested in buying without taking on salary. The Mariners will be buying, but starting pitching is the one thing they definitely don't need. In other words, most of the teams that might be interested in Gausman aren't covered under his partial no-trade clause. And if a contender like the White Sox or especially the Brewers came calling, there's a good chance Gausman would accept a trade anyway.
    With that said, Gausman told reporters (including MLB.com's Keegan Matheson) after his latest start, "I'm not going to think about [the possibility of being traded] too much. I'm a Blue Jay right now, and the focus is this team, this room and those guys."
×
×
  • Create New...