The Toronto Blue Jays had a busy trade deadline that included a mix of buying and selling.
Among their moves, they traded fan-favourite pitcher Kevin Gausman to the Chicago Cubs but acquired José Soriano from the Los Angeles Angels.
ESPN’s Buster Olney joined First Up on TSN1050 on Tuesday to discuss the Blue Jays’ trade deadline moves.
Gausman to the Cubs
The first major move the Blue Jays made was trading Gausman to the Cubs for outfielder Brett Bateman and shortstop Ty Southisene.
Gausman was in the final year of a five-year deal with the Blue Jays. He had a 4.38 ERA with a 5-10 record in 23 starts for the Blue Jays in 2026.
“It was pretty clear with the handling of everything that they didn’t talk to Kevin Gausman about an extension,” Olney said. “They had sort of reached the end of their time with him on the team, with him now in his mid-30s, and they flipped forward by the end of the deadline.”
Gausman received a standing ovation from Blue Jays fans when he left the field after his final start with the team on Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals. Gausman gave up one run in 5.2 innings in a 5-1 win for the Blue Jays.
Targeting pitching despite offensive struggles
The Blue Jays made up for the loss of one starting pitcher by trading for another, acquiring Soriano from the Angels.
Soriano has a 3.92 ERA with a 9-6 record in 22 starts with the Angels in 2026. He was named as the American League Pitcher of the Month for April.
He is on a one-year, $2.9 million contract with two years of arbitration remaining. He will be a free agent after the 2028 season.
Soriano came at the cost of the Blue Jays’ second-ranked prospect, shortstop Arjun Nimmala, outfielder Eddie Micheletti, and right-handed pitcher Angel Rivero.
Despite offence being a bigger concern for the Blue Jays in 2026, they opted to trade one of their top prospects for a starting pitcher. The Blue Jays are last in MLB in runs scored (442) while they are 12th in team ERA (4.04)
“I’m not surprised, and I’ll tell you why. The market for position players, good hitters, generally speaking was terrible,” Olney said.
“The [New York] Yankees sore of embodied that experience with how they handled things. They went into the trade deadline thinking ‘Man, we need a right-handed hitter, a really good right-handed hitter,’ There were almost none. And in the end, they wound up settling for an imperfect fit in Luis Garcia [Jr.], who is a left-handed hitter. Teams were really having a hard time adding bats.”
Hoffman to the Twins
The Blue Jays traded reliever Jeff Hoffman to the Minnesota Twins for left-handed pitcher Dasan Hill, second baseman Dameury Pena, right-handed pitcher John Klein, and $250,000 in international cap space.
Hoffman made 51 appearances for the Blue Jays in 2026, racking up a 3.94 ERA with a 6-7. He started the season as the Blue Jays closer, but was moved out of the role in place of Louis Varland after struggling to start the season.
Hoffman gave up the game-tying home run to Miguel Rojas in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 2025 World Series. The Blue Jays went on to lose 5-4 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in extra innings.
“Being able to shed Jeff Hoffman’s contract is good. Overall, before Game 7 of the World Series last year, I think generally he’s a really good pitcher for them,” Olney said. “But we talked last week about how relief pitching is so volatile. I mean, his experience tells you that, I think it was good that they moved on past him.”
Hoffman is in the second year of a three-year, $33 million deal.
Hill was the seventh-ranked prospect in the Twins organization and is now ranked sixth for the Blue Jays. Klein was the 17th-ranked prospect for the Twins and is now 25th for the Blue Jays.
Bieber, Springer stay put
While the Blue Jays made a lot of moves, starting pitcher Shane Bieber and designated hitter George Springer remain Blue Jays.
Bieber had his worst start as a Blue Jay in his final appearance before the deadline. He was pulled in the first inning after giving up four runs on six hits.
Bieber had a late start to the season due to right elbow inflammation. He has a 5.11 ERA with a 3-2 record in eight starts. He is a free agent at the end of the season.
“With Shane Bieber, it was an absolutely stacked starting pitcher market. There wasn’t a lot of relief pitching. There was almost no right-handed hitting,” Olney said.
“There were a ton of starting pitchers out there, and I think Bieber’s performance in recent weeks, the fact that it seemed like he had a hiccup after last year coming back from Tommy John surgery, that probably scared teams away, to the point that even if the Blue Jays had gotten offers, I’m guessing that they’re thinking ‘You know what, it’s not really worth it.’ So, that didn’t surprise me.”
Bieber started for the Blue Jays in Monday’s game against the Houston Astros after the deadline had passed. He gave up one run in 5.2 innings while striking out six. The Blue Jays won 3-1.
Like Bieber, the Blue Jays also kept Springer, who is in the final year of a six-year, $150 million contract.
While Springer has not maintained his strong offensive numbers from 2025, the 36-year-old has performed better as the season has gone on. Since July 1, Springer has slashed .297/.358/.527 with four home runs and 11 RBI.
“I haven’t had a chance to dig into it completely, but I’ve got to believe at some point, maybe, they came to George and said, ‘Look, Team X or Team Y is interested in trading for you,’ and maybe there was a conversation there, because he’s played better.” Olney said.
“He’s hit better in the last month. He’s a terrific clubhouse presence. He’s a leader. Eduardo Perez and I, my colleague at ESPN, we both thought that Houston eventually would work something out for him, but it didn’t happen, so I am a little surprised that he’s still in Toronto.”
Springer does have 10-and-5 rights, because he has 10 years of service time and has spent the last five years with the Blue Jays. That allows him to veto any proposed trades. It has not been stated whether that factored into the Blue Jays keeping Springer.
Other moves the Blue Jays made included trading centre fielder Daulton Varsho to the Astros for right-handed starting pitcher Spencer Arrighetti, trading left-handed reliever Adam Macko to the Texas Rangers for second baseman Josh Smith and right-handed pitcher Josh Stephan, and acquiring Jameson Taillon from the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later.
The Blue Jays are fifth in the AL East with a 53-60 record. They sit four games back of the Cleveland Guardians for the final American League wild-card Spot.
