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  • Toronto Blue Jays Trade & Free Agent Rumors

    Follow the latest Toronto Blue Jays trade and free agent rumors, along with quick notes on the big league club, the minor leagues and the draft.
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    Leo Morgenstern
    Earlier this week, Baseball America's Matt Eddy rounded up some minor league transactions from the beginning of the offseason. As part of his report, he noted that six players have re-signed with the Toronto Blue Jays on new minor league contracts: Lazaro Estrada, Josh Stephan, Adrian Pinto, Alexis Hernandez, Hedbert Perez, and Geovanny Planchart.
    Estrada, 27, is the only one of the six with MLB experience. He pitched 20.1 innings for the Jays between 2025 and '26. Injuries limited his playing time this past season, but when healthy, he can offer right-handed rotation/long-relief depth. 
    Stephan, 25, came over along with Josh Smith at last summer's trade deadline, in exchange for Adam Macko. The righty made seven starts for Triple-A Buffalo in August and September. 
    Pinto (2B), Hernandez (OF), Perez (OF), and Planchart (C) all reached Double-A New Hampshire last season. 
    Leo Morgenstern
    The Blue Jays and Rudy Martin Jr. have agreed to a new minor league deal, according to Ari Alexander of 7News Boston. The contract includes an invitation to big league spring training.
    The 30-year-old made his long-awaited MLB debut with Toronto in September. Unfortunately, he only appeared in two games before suffering a season-ending hamstring strain. Now, he can hope to get a longer look with the Jays in 2027. His odds of making the Opening Day roster are slim, but he'll offer speedy outfield depth at Triple-A Buffalo.
    Leo Morgenstern
    David Bell is leaving the Blue Jays after two years with the organization, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The former Reds manager joined the Jays as an assistant general manager and vice president of baseball operations during the 2024-25 offseason.
     
    Shi Davidi of Sportsnet confirmed the report, adding that Toronto is seeking a new executive to replace Bell in the front office. It's not yet clear if that new hire would take over all of Bell's previous duties. As assistant GM and VP of baseball operations. Bell managed two departments for the Blue Jays: player development and physical & mental performance. 
     
    According to the Blue Jays' staff directory, the team still employs four VPs of baseball operations and two assistant GMs. 
    Leo Morgenstern
    On Monday, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced the top three vote-getters for each of its five awards: MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, and the brand-new Relief Pitcher of the Year.  
    While no Blue Jays made the podium for MVP, RotY, or MotY, Dylan Cease and Louis Varland were named "finalists" for the Cy Young and the inaugural Relief Pitcher of the Year Award, respectively. The winners of both awards will be announced on Wednesday, November 11. 
    Cease is likely to finish as the Cy Young runner-up, behind the Yankees' Cam Schlittler and ahead of the Guardians' Parker Messick. Varland has a better chance to win his award, unless it turns out the BBWAA voters value saves significantly more than anything else. Fellow finalists Bryan Baker of the Rays and Cade Smith of the Guardians tied for the MLB lead in saves, but Varland outperformed both of them in almost every other category. 
    Leo Morgenstern
    The Blue Jays released infielder Lenyn Sosa yesterday, a month after they sent him outright to Triple-A Buffalo. He's now a free agent.
    Toronto acquired Sosa from the White Sox in April. He appeared in 28 games for the Jays, splitting his time between first and second base. He slashed .188/.205/.275 with a -0.5 fWAR. In late May, Sosa landed on the injured list, and he never made it back to the majors. In 17 games for the Buffalo Bisons, he hit .257 with an 87 wRC+. 
    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.
    Bryan Jaeger
    The Jesús Sánchez experiment has ended. He’s been a liability on defense, with routine fly balls being dropped. At the plate, he’s been a decent addition, hitting .260/.318/.416 with eight home runs, 24 runs, and 35 RBIs. However, with the Blue Jays fighting for a Wild Card spot, the poor defense couldn’t be ignored any longer, and he couldn’t be moved to DH, with George Springer implanted in the role.
    The Blue Jays have plenty of outfield depth, which made DFA'ing Sánchez an easier decision. In a corresponding move, Toronto has called up Rudy Martin Jr. for his MLB debut. He's a 30-year-old who has played 12 seasons in the minor leagues. He was traded from the Kansas City Royals to the Baltimore Orioles on July 18. Two days later, he was DFA’d, and on July 23, the Blue Jays claimed him. 
    Since joining Triple-A Buffalo on July 25, he’s posted a .730 OPS with three home runs, 16 runs, and 11 RBIs. He also has 12 stolen bases in 27 games. Martin brings more speed to a team that has improved its running game. In August, they stole successfully on 20 of 22 attempts, which was the first time they attempted more than 20 steals in a month since April 2025. The most important part of this move is that the defense drastically improves. Martin, a left-handed bat, will likely share a platoon role with Myles Straw.
    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.
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