Mets have scratched Freddy Peralta from tonight's scheduled start ahead of the deadline.

Shane McClanahan injured.

From the standpoint of wanting to see him make (presumptively) one final start in a Jays uniform, I hope Gausman starts tomorrow.

From the standpoint of whether a seller should use a starting pitcher who is their best asset 48 hours before the trade deadline, I hope he doesn't.

at some point in the game Schneider should let Gausman do a mound visit and get his standing-O on his way back to dugout

Fisher and Sanchez back, Macko and Pinango to Buff

on the topic of Macko being sent down....i do think that Chad Dallas has pitched legit well enough to be given a real shot as an mlb reliever.

He's pitched 4 innings

Dallas could also join the rotation, depending on what happens this weekend. He has been up to 70 pitches as a starter - not ideal, but there's not a lot of competition either. Dallas might even start tomorrow if they decide to skip Gausman.

He also pitched in AAA.

they had a day off, Sat would give Scherzer 5 days and Bieber another start if they wanted

Yeah cracka i don't know if i see a lote of hope for him as a starter...but if i squint i see some RP potential i think.

Vladdy playing.

Rf Lukes
1b vladdy
3b Okamoto
DH Springer
CF Varsho
2B Clement
LF Sanchez
C Valenzuela
SS Gimenez

Bench

UT Schneider
OF Straw
IF Urias
C Kirk


Team is finally healthy. Including all the pitchers.

Let's see what they can do.

Red Sox are open to moving Duran. He's been awful and then last night pulled a Lawrie, yelling at his 3rd base coach for not sending Contreras on a medium fly ball.

Keegan Matheson
@KeeganMatheson
·
45m
John Schneider says that he’s trying “not to live in hypotheticals” for now and focusing solely on the games.

He described this deadline as more “murky” than 2024.

As of right now: “I haven’t been told by anyone above me that we’re selling.” #BlueJays

In general, i think if management believed they had a contender to start the year, then doing a fire sale while 5gms out with 2 months left is pretty weak.

It'll be hard to make the playoffs this year but i think there's plenty of value in still trying (to the team, the players, and the fans), rather than blowing it up for a handful of marginal prospects. It matters to to the current players and to any players we might try to sign in the offseason.

I'll say it again - pretty much any significant player we would be selling is a player i'd be very happy to have on the team next year again.

Three things:

1) Jays are still not healthy. Varsho is still injured and playing with a wrist issue. You'll probably see him with the wrist guards again tonight. Drop him in the line up please.
2) Jarren Duran was available as reported on publications last year at the deadline and nobody traded for him
3) If you can get anything close to a top 150 prospect for any rental or combination of rentals you do it

Looks like something big is Brewing in Milwaukee.

Listened to some prognosticator's today and the status quo seems to be

1) nothing will really start to move until Saturday and then a frenzy on Monday

2) Jays should expect to nab prospects outside the top 10 lists of the respective team they are trading with (think 10-24 in the other organization). (:

The Jays are 5.5 games back of the last playoff spot with nearly half the American League in front of them while having the worst offense in the sport by almost every important metric. If John Schneider is being sincere (he may not be) and they don't actually know if they are sellers by now, then might as well just be buyers and live with the consequences. Maybe a miracle happens and it works. But starting Gausman tomorrow because they still don't know which direction to go in is mind boggling to me.

I think Brewers are landing Skubal.

Cease is just damn good. Need bats to do anything to help him out.

Just Missed.

Interestingly, Cease at slightly down velocity might be better than at max velocity.

There's the 2026 Vladdy! This game has had really weird luck. Bouncing ball hits and scorching line outs. I am really pretty tired of Straw pinch hitting. He's an awful hitter!

Regardless of what happens to this game, the idea that this team is supposed to go on a run with this offense is comical. You have freaking Myles Straw pinch hitting in the 7th inning.

At least Hoffman looked dominant once again.

Not sure why Urias has had so few opportunities given he’s hit since joining the team.

Lukes can't hit lefties.

Was thinking the same thing nigel.

The only thing I can think of is that the front office has more say on game personnel than we understand. It’s clear that the FO liked some of the analytical metrics with Sosa (it was mentioned multiple times in interviews). He got tons of rope. Urias didn’t come with that narrative.

4.5gms back

They were wrong with Sosa.
Let's forget about it.

The stats seem to have always liked urias better than sosa.

But regardless it still seems weird that sosa kept playing nearly every day when he never hit and urias grts no time even tho he can't stop hittkng.

Urias has not hit lefties.
That's a huge part of being a right bat on the bench.

They just keep giving me this false hope. Sigh. Well, by Monday we'll know what they are doing for sure. If they can't get a really good prospect or two I'd rather they didn't bother. It is all based on what quality is available.

"I think Brewers are landing Skubal."

That's what I'm rooting for

Great win.

Worrying about a freak occurrence so you can land another Jake Bloss would be mind boggling.

I would rather have another Bloss. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But I gave up on this season being a success on June 24th. To each their own.

Indeed, to each their own. You gave up on the Jays when they were in a playoff spot.

Mark Feinsand@Feinsand

The Orioles get OF Jhomnardo Reyes from the Twins for Kremer, per source. Reyes is the Twins’ No. 24 prospect according to
@MLBPipeline.Quote

Mark Feinsand@Feinsand

The Twins are acquiring Dean Kremer from the Orioles, per source. @Ken_Rosenthal was on it.

That’s true. However, they have gone 9-17 since then, confirming my bias.

I would be very happy to be proven wrong I just have zero hope in that outcome

Like I said, if Gausman is starting tomorrow, then be a buyer. Trade prospects for immediate help. If they think they are still in it today, then why would that change dramatically two days from now? If you're going to be delusional and hope for a miracle, then go all in.

"The Orioles get OF Jhomnardo Reyes from the Twins for Kremer"

You could ask maybe just a little better than that for Bieber (based on his history) and maybe a tic more if you wait until Monday and someone is desperate. But you would have to question if, unless you really identified a guy you really want in return and not just "the best guy on a list", whether it's worth it when you have so little depth to carry innings this year and the marginal chance he gets his form back.

That's just silly.

Going all in only makes sense if you are in for sure the playoffs or almost in and what you get back gives you good value for now and likely you are towards the end of a success cycle.

The Jays hope to be mid a near constant success cycle and are, at best, fringe contenders. Buying makes sense if the price is right and/or if you get something that has value beyond this season (like someone signed for additional years past this one). Selling makes sense if you get something of significant value back.

Since it is most likely that there isn't significant value for cheap sale, nor significant value for selling your guys on last years of contracts, the most likely position is close to standing pat and hope the fringe contender becomes a real contender (and the last 2 games make that more real).

They shouldn't be desperate to sell anything, but that also doesn't mean they should be in a win now buy at any cost sort of thing.

Like I guess the question is if the return for one of Springer, Gausman, Varsho or the like was an age appropriate AA prospect that wouldn't be in our top 20 prospects is that enought that you'd be wanting them to trade them? If they were really in a desperate burn it all down sell it all the answer would be yes. I think the answer is no. If the return for one of those players is someone that is instantly our top prospect it would be hard to turn that down (where if we were in a playoff spot, we might turn that down if the traded player couldn't play in the majors right away).

More or less standing pat (or only doing very minor around the edges trades like sixth reliever or AAAA players exchanged) is quite reasonable given where the team is and where the team expects to be this year and next.

I wouldn't be anxious to let go of Hoffman (still on contract next year and good if not closing) or Straw (I maintain an $8m 1 year option is good for him as a 4th/5th OF that can defensively cover CF and having an $8m option past next year is even better). Obviously for the right deal anyone should be available, but my BATNA (best alternative to negotiated agreement) of not trading those players is high so anyone wanting to buy them needs to pay up.

Cards were 9 games over .500 on June 10th. Since then, they are 17-28, 11 games under. Only team worse in that time are the Athletics. This is a bad team, despite Wetherholt and Walker.

Of course it's silly to be a buyer or go all in. That was my point. Their record at this time in 2024 is identical to what it is today. This is a bad team that is "close" to a playoff spot (behind six teams) because the rest of the league stinks. I was being hyperbolic that if they still don't think they are out of it despite what the standings and the underlying numbers are telling them, then be buyers and live with the consequences.

Adding prospect depth, shedding some payroll to possibly avoid CBT penalties, and giving playing time to younger players who may/may not be longer term pieces is the logic behind selling at the deadline when you have a bad team. It's not to get franchise altering prospects in return for rentals. That rarely if ever happens, and shouldn't be the expectation when you're a selling team.

They are also still treading water when you look at the actual scoreboard results from last night. Which is a big problem when you are trailing 4-5 other teams, even if you are "only 4.5 games back".

The Yankees won, Boston beat the Dodgers, the Orioles won, the Tigers won, the Twins won (and are now 7-3 over their last 10), and the Astros destroyed the Rangers (and are 9-1 over their last 10). Sure, Cleveland lost and fell out of their hold of the third WC spot, but most of the other teams that were already in front of the Jays also won.

Updated playoff odds:

Fangraphs: 7.6%
Baseball Reference: 4.6%
Baseball Prospectus: Hasn't been updated yet (was 9.4%)

Jays are not likely to make the playoffs. Obvious.

This is not a good reason to sell. Obvious.

Potential returns for rentals look awful. Obvious.

Jays shouldn't be buyers for rentals. Obvious.

Same rehash of things this morning. We shall see if they get good future pieces back for their rentals which I doubt.

Referencing records for any of the wild card teams doesn't mean much. Saying the Dodgers or Rays have this many Wins or whatever is constructive. Sharing the W-L record of any of the middle teams is useless because most of them are bound to go on winning or losing heavy patterns in the last 2 months. That's why it's so silly to think that because one team like Boston is now hot they are going to baseline at this level for 2 months (inverse for Blue Jays). Newsflash - none of these teams are good and whoever catches the wild card will probably have Lady Luck to thank. The Blue Jays have played their worst baseball to date while the Red Sox their best. It's not hard to see the bad Blue Jays playing significantly better than the bad Red Sox.

Houston is leading their division and Jays don't need to catch them. It's the Rangers and Mariners who are in the WC race and I predict you'll see all of these WC teams go up and down .500 ball.

It's a unique season featuring a plethora of mediocre teams. I actually think it will create less buyers than normal because so many of the teams are "in it," but terrible.

Last week the Nationals were buyers now they are sellers. The Tigers were maybe buyers now clear sellers. The Twins were sellers now they're buyers. It's going to continue to change.

None of these teams have much chance in ALCS and further. That seems to be sure.

Michael, your analysis doesn't comment on the Jays being buyers for 2027 not 2026. Example, trade Miles Straw for top 100 OF, or some type of challenge trade to rebalance the team.

Of the 6 teams ahead of them in the wild card race, 3 won and 3 lost. That's expected.

Also, i take this roster over 2024's by a large margin.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is the remaining schedule.
Jays are middle of the pack. Only team we're chasing with a tougher schedule are the O's.

Indians are not playing well, but they have by far the easiest remaining schedule in MLB. We still have 10 left vs Rays, NYY, Cubs and 4 Boston.. They have no one better than Boston left. The teams behind us, we have 3 A's, 6 KC. They have 3 Rockies,3 Angels, 3 A's, 6 KC, 3 Mets, 3 Giants.

Unsurprisingly, the other 3 easiest schedules are the Rangers,Astros and Mariners. While we are playing the Yankees and Rays in our division, they are playing the trash Angels and garbage A's.

Did they give any reason Kirk didn't start last night? He's been mediocre at best, but Schneider has always treated him as the #1.

No reason given.

I am curious, especially from Hypo, Metafour and Ugly:

Who are the best teams in the AL rest of the way for you guys aside from Astros, White Sox, Rays and NYY?

Who are the best teams in the AL rest of the way for you guys aside from Astros, White Sox, Rays and NYY?

Red Sox best team. Best records? 2 of Red Sox, Guardians, Rangers. Despite the Mariners soft schedule, they have the same under performance malaise the Jays have suffered from this year.

But it also depends on what teams do at the deadline.

Ken Rosenthal reposted
Zack Meisel@ZackMeisel

Source: The Guardians are trading Bo Naylor and Codi Heuer to the Brewers for Craig Yoho and Blake Perkins

The issue is that the Jays still look the same. In their last 3 wins, they've still only scored 11 runs. I want to see their offense break out, especially Vladdy, to have any belief. You win because your starter went 6 and gave up 1 run. Fantastic, but that's not going to happen very often. I don't believe the offense is good enough to compete.

The run production hasn't exploded yet but imo the offense has started to show some signs of life, starting in that boston series.

The Star today has three lists of the top 50 Jays, all time. The lists were prepared by Gregor Chisholm, Mike Wilner and Rosie DiManno. Its probably online for those who don't get the newspaper.

They scored a total of 14 runs over 3 games (4.67 runs per game) against the 2nd worst pitching team in baseball (Washington). The Nats give up 5.22 runs per game. Furthermore, in that last game where they scored 5 runs, the team looked bad offensively until the BABIP gods blessed them. Poor defense and bloop hits led to runs late, not a change in offensive performance. The Okamoto bloop double which scored multiple runs had an expected BA of .230.

Nothing really looks different. They had 1 run scored last night going into the 8th inning, at which point the Cardinals brought in a reliever who threw just 6 strikes on 17 pitches and loaded the bases. That isn't going to work against better teams.

I'm continually with Metafour, Glevin, SK in NJ here as the Jays, despite winning a couple more games lately still look like the same old dull team.

There was a post that said the Jays were extremely lucky to win one of the games against the Nationals as Meta pointed out with literally every ball finding holes in combination with poor D by the Nats. In addition, it's not like the Jays are hitting elite SP right now. The SP last night hung multiple pitches in a row to Vlad and Kaz which led to a run and the Cardinals 4 best relievers were all out last night, and they still only scored 3 runs.

Everyone keeps saying the offence is breaking out yet they had 3 hitters with a wRC+ above 100 in July (minimum 30 PA). The team had an 81 wRC+ which was good for worst in the American League in July and 2nd worst in MLB, just head of St. Louis.

If we change the splits to last 14 days, again, there's only 3 players on the Jays with a wRC+ above 100. Springer at 163, Kirk at 112 and Vlad at 102. So essentially, some of the commentators on here are saying the offence is breaking out when they've literally had 1 hot hitter, 2 league average hitters and the rest below or well below league average over the last 14 days against poor teams and poor pitching.

The offense is definitely better than it was because Springer is hitting but aside from him, is there a single hitter in the lineup you trust at all? The best OPS on this team is Okamoto and he's 30th among qualified players in the American League.

You guys sound like you're trying to convince yourselves, tbh.

Not a criticism. This is a slightly odd debate to me. The guys they have to trade (UFA’s) aren’t playing very well so they are neither doing a lot to help this team win nor are they going to return much. So it’s kind of a nothing burger to me whether they sell or keep Varsho (for example). To me, the only question is whether you might sell a leverage reliever like Varland or Rogers who might return something but who also are contributing to winning this year and forward. I’m think this year is lost but I am optimistic about a bounce back next so I’d lean on keeping those leverage arms. Of course, they are just relievers so if someone offers you a king’s ransom that’s a different story. Just my two cents.

Valenzuela had a big night.

Besides Springer, Kirk has been hitting better.
Besides Urias, that's about it.

Did they give any reason Kirk didn't start last night?

I didn't hear a reason given. My speculation is that it might be some sort of load management with the off day Thurs.

I thought they might be trying to be cute by giving Kirk a 3-day break midweek. But checking the boxscores, Alejandro started the final game of the Nationals series on Wed.

Gausman listed as starter on the gamesheet.

Urias leads off.

"If we change the splits to last 14 days, again, there's only 3 players on the Jays with a wRC+ above 100. Springer at 163, Kirk at 112 and Vlad at 102. So essentially, some of the commentators on here are saying the offence is breaking out when they've literally had 1 hot hitter, 2 league average hitters and the rest below or well below league average"

This is what a non-elite offensive baseball team is in 2026. This does not make the Jays any different from most of the other middling mediocre teams in the middle.

If you have more than 1 hot hitter and a bunch of above average hitters in your line up then you're probably leading a division not fighting for a wild card.

Take a look at the offensive numbers since the all star break. If you look at the Jays numbers it's bad. Are you looking any any of the other numbers though to compare? They're outdoing the NYY and Minnesota Twins and the Rays have been barely ahead. Boston is the only one out of these 5 teams that has clear numbers ahead of Toronto.

I can't look at the team in a vacuum and rank them by numbers, that's irrelevant for me. I have to look at how they stack up against the competition and ask how the last 1/3rd of the season is impacted by this.

Right now playing terrible they are on pace or outpacing several of these other teams. Tell me they aren't in a playoff spot. No argument. I don't buy the argument that they are worse than the other teams in the wild card hunt.

"They beat Washington but they got lucky here here and here." "They beat St Louis but they got lucky here here and here..."" What is the purpose of this? The team has to win in a demonstrable way the supports a fangraphs analytical funnel page? A win is a win. If you want to discredit their hits or wins because it's not up to advanced metrics snuff then why don't we start counting all of the "bad luck" losses Toronto had thus far? I can count close to 10 between Hoffman's blown saves and Heineman/Valenzuela's dropped balls/throwing errors.

Dean freaking Kramer just returned the Twins' #12 (BA)/#10 (FG) prospect. The Twins have a ~Top 5-10 farm system.

Again, the idea that you may as well keep Gausman ands pray for a miracle because "you're not getting much for him" is nonsense.

"Not a criticism. This is a slightly odd debate to me. The guys they have to trade (UFA’s) aren’t playing very well so they are neither doing a lot to help this team win nor are they going to return much."

Here's where I disagree. I think Gausman gets you a top-100 prospect or close. I think Springer, Varsho, and Bieber might get you something interesting as well. It isn't that they are studs, it's that there are so few sellers so if you want something, you need to pay for it. For example, Varsho isn't good but he was better than a 3 WAR player 2 years ago and 4 WAR pace last year and over a 2 WAR pace this year. If you're the Phillies, your CF is a 0 WAR player so even if you are getting this year's version of Varsho, it's a huge upgrade but there's a chance he goes on a streak and is better than that and there really are not a lot of CF on the market.

Dalimon, you say the Jays performance over the last month is similar to other average teams in the American League, made up of a couple hot bats and the rest mostly average or below average.
If that was the case, the Jays monthly wRC+ for July would be right around 100 (exactly league average) and in the 7-9 mark in the AL.
However, they are dead last with an 81 wRC+, 19% below league average.
How does that make them similar to other average teams in the league?

You're taking the best possible published rankings of the prospects they got to make your argument appear stronger.

Kremer is under contract for another season.

Gausman will cost the acquiring team more in salary rest of this season than Kremer will all of next season. I don't think Minnesota would trade those players for Gausman for this reason alone.

The returns so far have been underwhelming.

Also, Nigel... I'd argue Springer is playing quite well lately with a 147 wRC+ in July. 

Hoffman isn't a UFA but you'd have to imagine he could be the best reliever traded at the deadline. And there will always be interest in players like Gausman and Varsho, given the trade return for Dean Kremer.

Simply compare since the all star break AVG, RUNS, HR, OPS, SLG, OBP. Isolate it to Toronto and the other teams. There's no point comparing them to the entire league since we are isolating their chances to the Wild Card teams. If you start bringing in teams like the Dodgers you're going to dramatically penalize all of these wild card teams.

I used ESPN's split stats calculator to randomly compare NYY, BOS, TB, MINNY and TOR.

ok sure:
Since July 15th, wRC+ is as follows for teams they are fighting against:

Houston: 118
Detroit: 117Boston: 111Texas: 104Tampa: 95Baltimore: 93Seattle: 92
White Sox: 91
Cleveland: 86
Jays: 81

Doesn't exactly make your argument any stronger here?

Anything is possible - it’s a market and anomalies happen in markets all the time. If there are big returns for any of the UFA’s then of course make the deal. As I said, I’m thinking about the future not this year. I don’t see any of the UFA’s as having big value but Gausman is the guy you could squint at and say “he’s having a poor year but he isn’t far removed from being good”. However, Gausman and his mid 4’s ERA being on the roster or not isn’t going to be the difference between the Jays making the playoffs or not.

My split stats research from ESPN page doesn't have wrc+. Using your isolated stat it paints a very different picture.

I've done some digging to see why wrc+ is a more relevant stat than the rest.

Thanks for highlighting your point simply.

Gausman will cost the acquiring team more in salary rest of this season than Kremer will all of next season. I don't think Minnesota would trade those players for Gausman for this reason alone.

Gausman is owed about ~$7.1 mill for the rest of the year, which the Jays have to pay regardless if they choose to not trade him. They can choose to cover all of his remaining salary in a trade to maximize the return, or ~50-75% of it. You guys are the ones constantly talking about how they have the financial means to absorb money in order to maximize their talent, so why is it that now all of a sudden we're supposed to assume that Kramer is so much cheaper, when in reality the Jays can make Gausman cost $0 if they wanted to.

The 2025 Jays won the East by essentially one game (tiebreaker). Fisher had a 0.8 WAR and there was at least one game (at Tampa in September) that I remember that they don't win without him. Clase hit a game tying home run in St. Louis against Ryan Helsley in a game the Jays looked like they were about to lose. Loperfido had a 0.7 WAR and 148 wRC+ in 100 plate appearances. Those were the returns for Biggio, Garcia, and part of the return for Kikuchi the season prior in a trade deadline where the Jays were trading about the least spectacular group of names that any selling team has ever traded. The 2026 Jays would be trading pieces of the 1998 Yankees compared to what they were selling two years ago. Other than Kikuchi, the list of names the Jays traded were unspectacular at best and back end of a roster quality at worst. They were still able to get depth that helped them the following year, and a decent amount of prospects that are or were sitting on their top 30 list.

Are the returns for Gausman, Varsho, Springer, etc, going to be players competing with Nimmala and Parker for the top of the team's prospect list? Probably not. That doesn't mean they can't be traded for value that will help the Jays in the future. On top of what I mentioned above, Wagner was flipped for a backup catcher who currently ranks 9th in MLB for catcher WAR despite having nearly 100-200 less PA than most of the names ahead of him. Assets can help the team, they can be flipped, they can be developed, etc.

I'll say this because I'm sure it will be brought up later, but if the Jays (foolishly IMO) decide to keep their players and/or add, then I'll still root for them to go on a huge run and make the playoffs. Hell, if they (smartly IMO) sell, then I'll still root for them to make the playoffs. It's not about rooting for the team to fail, or any of that nonsense. It's understanding where the team is, and arguing for a scenario that helps the team the most moving forward.

Biggio for Fisher trade was on June 12, with Biggio about to be dropped from the team. That was not a deadline trade of a good player.

Metafour you're all over the map. You argued since Kremer got x in return it means Gausman will net you more. I simply pointed out Gausman is a lot more expensive and under way less control which doesn't align with your comment using Kremer's return as a baseline for why Toronto will get more.

Stop combining comments and posts from multiple threads that are not related at all. Still waiting for any kind of constructive idea of a realistic return or plan the Jays can get from you. It's only been the same version of "team stinks, sell and get really good near top 100 prospects back"

Also nobody was too eager to keep or bring back kikuchi anyways.

Mitch Bannon
@MitchBannon
·
2m
Head down, sweater on, Kevin Gausman pops out of the dugout to an applause from #BlueJays fans. He's heading to the bullpen to warm up.

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Mitch Bannon
@MitchBannon
·
1m
Blink-182's All The Small Things is playing in the stadium...

"Say it ain't so, I will not go"

Some of us are rooting for the Jays to win the next two games so that they keep their talent.

Francys Romero@FrancysRomero

The New York Yankees are acquiring minor leaguers Omar Alfonzo and Luis Cruz from the Pirates’ Dominican Summer League affiliate in exchange for Camilo Doval, per sources.

Francys Romero@FrancysRomero

Correction here: Omar Alfonzo is currently in Altoona (Double-A), not in the DSL.

Guess it was the adrenaline from wanting to report it quickly. 😂

Dalimon, you're calling metafour being all over the map??

You literally wanted the Jays to trade for Bo, one of the worst contracts in baseball, during a bad season, when he can opt out at the end of the year and the Jays are 5 games back...

A playoff spot would obviously be a goal we can root for but at a minimum, I want them over .500

That would take a winning % of .596 (97 win pace over 162) which admittedly is a big ask.

Albeit, if you've resigned yourself to a hopeless season, a worse record increases your odds in the lottery. Pick your poison I guess.

I'd love for the Jays to trade for Bo. If he has one of the worst contracts in baseball the Jays might even get a prospect for doing so.

Alfonzo (#17 Pitt)

Another thing about the Kikuchi deal - the jays/bisons are rammed full of the loperfido/wagner types now and going forward so there isn’t even really any room for more of them.

In fact we're still in a great position to pull off a reverse kikuchi trade and trade a few interesting older AAA guys for a decent player.

We should trade for Bo and Bassitt.

Bo is bad and makes $42M a year. Is there any reason apart from sentimentality to want him on the team?

Giving Springer a hit for that is pretty hilarious. The difference in official scoring these days is pretty drastic.

Chris_jays, you don't post often. I'll assume you have missed entire portions of the Bo conversation or else you're just as confused. Hint: I'm not advocating for a Bo trade any longer. So yup, he's all over the map. When someone has an idea then posts a follow up admitting it was a bad idea and they don't support it further, what exactly is your point to bring that up as if I still advocate for it? At least follow the conversation if you're going to jump in to defend the most vocal critic of the team on this board.

Jose Soriano scratched

ugly, interesting proposition. What do you think the Mets would want in that trade? If the Jays were interested in having him back I wonder what the framework might look like.

I believe Bo would improve the offense and if his contract is so terrible the Jays would add a very good prospect for taking it on.

The Cards are masquerading as the 2026 Jays. 8 hits an a walk through 5 and no runs; two defensive plays not made (one that should have and one that could have) and you’re down 2-0. Feels good to be on the other end for once.

The Jays are 1-6 with RISP and have 2 runs on 6 hits against a pitcher making his MLB debut and some trashcan reliever who had a 6+ ERA coming into the game. Oh, and one of their runs came off a ball that the SS should have made a play on.

The Cardinals are basically begging them for a blowout loss.

Every year, FG ranks all the traded prospects after the deadline. ESPN is now doing the same, but on an ongoing basis.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/49464501/mlb-trade-deadline-2026-ranking-prospects-changed-teams

Glevin i believe Bo is probably still a very good hitter. I don't really make too strong a judgement on 2/3 of a season. the contract is a doozy now but man would it be cool to swap out Gimenez' contract for his.

i'm still good on selling Hoffman btw!

Please don’t use Varland in the 9th.

buy buy buy

4 back. If the Mariners hang on and the Guardians lose, they’re only 3.5 back.
They’re buying.

Springer now 2nd on the team in wRC+ among the regulars with a 106. trails only Okamoto (110).

I'd entertain holding the fort a lot more if Vlad looked like he was making any progress.
Unlike Springer though who is on fire, Vlad hasn't shown any positive signs over last 25, 50, 100 at bats.

I'm pretty sure Vladdy will hit again. Question is when.

Arden Zwelling
@ArdenZwelling
Kevin Gausman says he’s had dialogue with the Blue Jays front office about what could happen at the trade deadline but, understandably, doesn’t want to share details.

Gausman: “We’ve had some discussions and, honestly, I really appreciate the discussion that we had.”

Ben Nicholson-Smith
@bnicholsonsmith
·
3m
Asked about his 10-and-5 rights, George Springer said: “I'm here. I love this team. I love this organization, and as far as I know, I'm here.”



Arden Zwelling
@ArdenZwelling
·
4m
Kevin Gausman: “I think of myself as a Blue Jay. It’s the most consistent team I've been on. I hope [fans] realize that I've embraced not just the team, but the country. I really love this city and everything that it stands for.

The best decision I've ever made is to come here.”

I still don't believe because I don't think offense is good enough without Vlad going but I'd definitely only sell if return was worth it and also be fine buying for longer term deals. One game at a time.

Ugly, I don't think Bo is a very good hitter anymore and I don't see any reason to believe he is. He was great second half of last year and June this year but other than that, he's been terrible for 3 years. He just had a 79 ERC+ in July. And while getting out from under Gimenez's contract would be great 1) Bo's contract is significantly worse, 2)Jays would need to get a SS back because Clement can barely handle 2B right now and while you can punt some defense with someone like CJ Abrams there, you can't do it for around a league average offense.

Clement's defensive stats are better (and positive) at SS this year than at 2B.

as for Bo....i'm not comfortable just tossing out literally half of the already selective sample you're referencing there as meaningless.

I've been against selling because of predicted returns, however I do not disagree Metafour or Chris_jays with the evidence and opinion that this team is not likely playoff bound and it would be foolish to buy rentals. I still maintain a middle ground where they stand pat or Buy *for 2027 and beyond (no rentals) is best practice if possible.

To the point, this team has a chance but I am not discrediting any of the evidence or strong arguments they are not contenders. Goes without saying but just to be clear.

Gausman sounds very much a class act. Wish him all the best even if he ends up with the Yankees or Red Sox this year or next.

Just trade for Bo and keep Gimenez. There’s nothing wrong with having 9 starters for 8 spots for two months.

The odds of the Blue Jays making the playoffs are relatively low. But if they win tomorrow, they could consider making a renewed push in 2026. They have some of the components that teams often need to make a run in the postseason:

-True #1 SP with dominant stuff (Cease)

-Good additional SPs with postseason experience (Gausman, Yesavage)

-True closer (Varland)

-Decent leverage BP arms (Hoffman, Rogers)

If the team added a controllable SP (for example, Soriano or Detmers) — which they need to do anyway to restock for 2027 — and a decent middle infielder who can hit (Arraez would be a good choice), they could end up being a surprise team the rest of the way this year.

Anyway, this seems like a lower-probability outcome for the trade deadline. Conceding 2026 and trading away 1-5 veterans (from among Gausman, Bieber, Hoffman, Springer and Varsho) seems a more likely outcome.

Not to take anything away from Gausman because he has been great....but I noted when he made his last start at home the media talked about how his wife flew up from Louisiana to surprise him. I thought she would have been up here as they were living here. I guess they already must have sold their Toronto home. I think he knows that despite what he says about loving it here his time is coming to an end.

Again not a slam, just realism on his part.

It also possible that Gausman and Springer are saying "please trade me, I need one more chance at a ring" to the front office. But they are not going to admit that publicly.

We just don't know and with this FO we likely never will.

Another important factor in the front office’s decision-making is the state of the farm system. Other contenders are likely in a better position to trade away prospects to augment their MLB rosters. The Blue Jays almost certainly aren’t trading Nimmala, Parker or King. That doesn’t leave a lot of high-value prospect talent to acquire impact MLB talent at the deadline (controllable players especially).

With roughly a 10% chance of making the postseason at the moment, the FO may well take the prudent approach of dealing away veterans on expiring contracts in exchange for prospect depth, with a view to resetting for 2027. But I could still see them trying to add one quality SP at the same time, maybe dealing someone like Perry plus another couple of prospects for someone like Soriano (who is controllable through 2028).

Kwan had a .575 OPS through June and has hit .390/.473/.506 since July 1st.

Gausman mentioned that he was selling his current house either way i think.

The other thing is that Toronto is 7 GB of the second WC spot (pending the outcone of the Boston game tonight). So realistically they may be vying with multiple teams for the final WC spot, and they are in kind of a weak position with (1) their position in the standings, (2) all the player injuries, (3) Vladdy, Varsho, Kirk and Gimenez struggling, and (4) the team's defense taking a step back this year.

You hate to see the team waste Cy Young calibre seasons from Cease and Varland, though.

Welcome back Mr Greenfrog. Perhaps your return can spark this team.

Bannon reporting that the recent streak hasn't changed Jays plans which is to look to sell expiring pieces and find long-term pieces. That makes sense to me. Only reservation for me would be you'd need to get back something worth it. Like, Gausman is almost certainly worth trading. I think he's getting a legitimate prospect back but let's say the only offer for Springer is like a team's 13th prospect or something? I'd rather hold on to him.

I think teams are mostly going to be in a holding pattern until the final 24 hours of the trade window (mid/late afternoon Sunday to mid/late afternoon Monday). Then it will be a mad game of musical chairs, with both buyers and sellers working their phones and looking to optimize their returns.

A team's 13th best prospect is not nothing. That is significantly higher than what Brandon Valenzuela was ranked when he was acquired a year ago. Fans forget that a #13 prospect can be used at next year's trade deadline if the team is good again. What is even the point of holding onto Springer in that scenario? If they trade Gausman and Hoffman for example, then there is no reason to hold onto Springer because your bad team is now worse anyway. Its not like they'll trade Gausman + others and then go on a playoff run with Springer still here. The guy is almost 37 years old and is an expiring contract, with a potential lockout looming next season.

Lane Thomas and Bailey Falter to the Ninja in Atlanta...

Teams that have quality MLB players to trade with 2+ years of control (like Detmers and Soriano) are probably going to be able to obtain a lot for them at the trade deadline, since the acquiring team will have them beyond a potential partial/full lockout season in 2027.

Arizona is beating Cleveland 6-2 in the 7th, so the Blue Jays could be 3.5 games back in the WC race in about an hour. I don’t think the front office should be too quick to torch the 2026 season, for the reasons mentioned.

Jays are going to be 3.5 out of a playoff spot by the end of the night. Hard to believe.

Now 9-2 Arizona, after a Corbin Carroll three-run home run.

Still six teams to pass to secure the final WC spot, and all of them have a better run differential than the Blue Jays. Guessing Toronto’s playoff odds will be no more than 12-15% when tonight is over. But that is still better than 7%...

No issues at all with a sell + buy model. The Jays need controllable talent regardless of where they are in the standings so if there’s an opportunity to get one or two now, then go for it.

Mark Feinsand@Feinsand

The White Sox are acquiring Luis Castillo from the Mariners for Seranthony Dominguez, Nolan Jones and Boston Smith, per source. @JeffPassan on it.

that's a tidy bit of business right there.

CLE MIN TEX BAL all lose.

Jays 3.5 out.

If the athletics can somehow beat the tigers then we catch them in the standings.

Castillo is not a good pitcher and he makes a ton of money. This bodes well for Bieber and Gausman deals.

Mark Feinsand reposted
Daniel Kramer@DKramer_

Source: The Mariners are not sending any money to the White Sox as part of the Luis Castillo deal.

Chicago is absorbing the remainder of his entire salary, which includes roughly $30 million guaranteed between now and through next season.

Geez, Castillo's last good year was 2023, great year 2022. His last 3 years have an ERA+ of 97. He does eat innings which is useful, but geez. $24.15 mil this year and next with an option for $25 mil based on health for '28. Not a guy I'd be chasing after. Seranthony Domínguez must be feeling whiplash - traded at the deadline 3 years running now. The prospect in the deal was a 6th rounder last year but over 3 levels (A/A+/AA) has hit 291/448/589 this year at C/LF/DH. Nice.

Should be interesting to see what the Jays get if they do indeed trade Bieber and Gausman. At this point I'd be surprised if they don't.

If we can't get much, keep people. But if there's a good deal to be had, take it.

Are we resigning Springer for his age 37 season? That worked great with Frank Thomas (not!) and he was a better hitter in his prime.

Trade for Bassit and Bo? I hear Chris Davis is available.. 

Tnhe Leafs finished 5th last overall and we're only officially eliminated with like 5 or 8 games to go. Yet everyone knew they weren't going anywhere in Jan/Feb.

If we can get a starting CF for one of Rogers or Varland, do it. Even better if for Hoffman just so Schneider isn't tempted to bring him in in the 8th ot 9th.

That's a nice return for the Ms.

Castillo's ERA in his last 10 games is 3.88. Not unlike Gausman, it's more inconsistency lately (after a very poor start)

Also Dominguez (also not that great) is owed another $3 million or so this year and $10 next year so it so the White Sox are only taking on $5m this year and $14m next year - EXCEPT if the option year vests, so they might regret it in 2028.

Skubal to the Dodgers - because why not? 

Figured River Ryan had to be in the middle of any such deal.

One the one hand, it's suck a cliche - but on the other hand, the Dodgers were never going to buy what the Jays are selling so they take the biggest piece off the board, it makes every other buyer have to scratch around for plan B>>
Still - I'd have loved to see him go to Milwaukee, and now I'm gonna have to quit wishcasting about the Jays finding a way to get Ryan.

The Dodgers got Skubal without having to give up any of their very best prospects. Seems like a great trade for them. You can never have too much pitching, and you can certainly never have too many ace pitchers. Skubal, Yamamoto and Ohtani as the front of your playoff rotation, in the season before a possible lockout? ‘Twill serve.

The reason the Dodgers didn't have to give up their best prospects is because their system is so good.

Hope and Ryan aren't their top prospects, but they're both very legitimate Top 50 prospects, or at the very least Top 100. Keith Law had them at 26 and 41 in his midseason update.

If I was a Detroit fan, I'd be pretty pleased with that return. Getting two Top 50 prospects including someone who will step into their rotation before the end of the year is a good return.

I wouldn't complain if I was a Dodgers fan either. The World Series favourites saw their odds of a threepeat increase noticeably. Flags fly forever.

provokes the question though: if two of the six teams you have to pass effectively say "we're out" (I'm including Baltimore tentatively here) then do you rethink the odds associated with going for it?

FG had Ryan 2nd in the Dodgers system 22nd overall, Hope 7th in their system 57th overall in their update

Right now it doesn’t move the needle for me all that much. I guess Detroit throwing in the towel helps — it’s interesting that the Tigers did so even as they have far and away the best run differential of all the teams gunning for the third WC spot.

Fangraphs currently gives the Blue Jays a 9.8% chance of making the postseason.

I would feel better if Varsho was healthy and playing like his normal self. Right now he’s borderline cringe on offense and defense, and with all their other issues, the Blue Jays just cannot afford having another weak link in the chain. I think they could be a good team with a few additions, as mentioned, but I don’t see them having the prospects to pull that off without effectively gutting the farm system. If I try to be objective about it, they don’t seem like they have a winning hand for 2026 at the moment.

Excellent point TamRa - the AL is super weak, odds are whoever gets to the WS is a sacrificial lamb to the Dodger juggernaut. But baseball is baseball, and the NLDS could knock the Dodgers out as a best of 5 doesn't require a TON of luck for someone to win. For example, April 17-20th the Dodgers split a 4 game set vs the Rockies - yes, the horrid Rockies won 2 of 4 vs the Dodgers. Then the Dodgers lost 2 of 3 vs the Giants. Lost 4 straight not long after (2 vs Miami, 2 vs StL), July 7-12 they went 1-4 vs Colorado & Arizona. So yes, they can be beat, but with Skubal they have to be overwhelming favorites.

The AL has only 4 decent teams - Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox. Astros are 2 games over 500, everyone else even worse. And I think I'm pushing it with the Sox teams (85-87 win pace each) as they are very mediocre. The Rays I have trouble believing in as they were sub 500 2 years in a row and expected to be dead last this year by nearly everyone. The Yankees are somehow holding on despite Judge being out (on 60 day IL), and now Stanton & Bellinger also on the IL. Their team OPS+ is just 101. Their pitching is saving them (128 ERA+ overall) but Rodon is on the IL (as expected), Fried and Cole are not to be counted on (just 12 starts each this year). Lots of warts there.

So yeah, if Vlad starts hitting like he can then the Jays could easily make a run and maybe even return to the WS. Seems insane, but is true. I wouldn't count on it - and if I was in Atkins shoes I'd be trying very, very hard to make multiple deals - clearing out Bieber & Gausman, getting in another solid starter who has a few years of control somehow. No idea how he does that, but with Cease & Yesavage at the front of the rotation, Miles being pretty damn good despite his sub 15 IP lifetime as a pro before this year, What to do about #4/5 though if Bieber & Gausman are dealt away? Could CJ Van Eyk or Chad Dallas do a good job given a shot at starting in the majors? Both have done well in Buffalo as starters. Simeon Woods Richardson is a possibility but has sucked in his 4 starts in AAA (ERA over 6 under 4 IP per start). Hrm... the more I look in AAA, if they don't get other starters in they can't afford to deal both Bieber & Gausman as who the heck would pitch? Miles Straw?

As for the return for Skubal, it could work out or not work out. Hope is a well-regarded 21-year-old prospect and he’s having a good season at AA (also he just had a great month of July with an OPS of 1.184). On the other hand, he’s a likely corner OF and will need to hit a lot to generate impact value at that position. Ryan seems to have excellent power stuff along with significant injury risk (Blue Jays fans know all about that profile with Tiedemann and Pearson).

It could end up being a solid trade for Detroit.

As always, time will tell. Otto Lopez was traded for cash considerations and he ended up being a surprisingly good player (4.4 fWAR so far this year, more than double the WAR total of any player on the Blue Jays roster). You never really know how things are going to play out.

I guess the pitching market isn't that strong.
Nobody wants to trade real prospects apart from the Dodgers who sign top free agents.

The best team, and more over an NL team, getting the best player likely to be traded in this window, and traded from one of the AL WC3 competitive teams, is good for the Jays.

The Tigers had the 3rd best run differential in the AL, and this will hurt them. The Tigers are only a game ahead of the Jays, and this makes them weaker. Not counting the Tigers only Seattle at +2 has a positive run differential amongst the 3rd wild card and worse teams.

By run differential in AL:
Yankees (2nd overall, 1st wild card) +86
Red Sox (3rd overall, 2nd wild card) +56
Tigers (throwing in towel?, 11th place, 2.5 GB) +52
White Sox (4th overall, ALC leaders) +47
Rays (1st overall and ALE leaders) +39
Mariners (10th place, 2 GB) +2
Guardians (tied 6/7, tied 3 WC) -21
Orioles (9th place, 1.5 GB) -27
Twins (tied 6/7, tied 3 WC) -28
Astros (5th overall and ALW leaders) -31
Rangers (8th place, 0.5 GB) -32
Jays (12th place, 3.5 GB) -54
Angels (15th place, 13.5 GB) -77
Royals (13th place, 10 GB) -102
Athletics (14th place, 10.5 GB) -143

There are a lot of teams, but only Seattle seems substantially better placed than the Jays amongst the 3WC competitive teams (with the much better run differential and the weaker ALW opponents).

Note the Dodgers are at +154 before adding Skubal.

Plenty bothers me about the Dodgers, but this dossnt bother me. It is a big return with multiple top-100 prospects for a rental. Dodgers are just best run organization in baseball. They got Hope and Jackson Ferris for Michael Busch, got Ryan for Matt Beaty. They got Mike Sirota AND a competitive balance pick who ended up being Davalan for Gavin Lux!! They have fabtastix scouting and player development. I am sure the owners are rooting for the Dodgers so they can justify a lockout.

Yeah the return is legit and would make a Gausman trade look like less of a waste of time. If they could get any of those 3 players for Gausman I think you have to do it.

Jays would have to go 33-19 rest of way to get to 85 wins.

I could see Gausman garnering a couple of prospects outside the top 100 (possibly with one of them being at the back end of the top 100). I doubt they’re getting a top-50 prospect for him.

I’m more curious about which controllable SP the Blue Jays are targeting, amd which prospect(s) they would have to give up to acquire him.

Remember, the Blue Jays landed Varland (controllable through 2030) right before last year’s deadline, which was a coup for Toronto. I remember Kevin Barker being totally dismissive of the Varland acquisition when it happened.

BA says:

“The trade return is right in line with the normal cost of acquiring an ace on an expiring contract at the trade deadline, but it’s also a prospect cost light enough that the deal seems like a no-brainer for the Dodgers”

and

“The Tigers got a normal level of return for Skubal, but if he dominates for LA in the postseason, it will leave many wondering if it would have been wise for someone else to overpay a bit in prospects to keep the back-to-back World Series champs from adding one of the best pitchers in baseball.”

I don't think you can make trade deadline descisions based on if the current team/players are going to start doing something they haven't done all year. (ie. vladdy, varsho, kirk) Thats the whole point of the trade deadline. You add to fill in the gaps once you have see the performance of the team to this point.

The Jays need to decide if they are a buyer or seller using current data. Not wishful thinking. If they think they have a chance if they add to the team, then add. If they don't, then sell. Holding with what they have, where they are over the penalty threshold and with a bunch of players they have no intention of signing in for next year would be crazy.

I trust they are better asset managers than that.

Do you really judge all players only by what they've done in the first four months of this season?

Haven't you heard? Baseball is a 'what have you done for me lately?' industry.

"Do you really judge all players only by what they've done in the first four months of this season?"

Not perfect, but if you need to make a decision, Yes.

Yeah that's a flat out terrible way to make decisions.

So what would you do Ugly since you're banking on such a resurgence with two months to go against a tough schedule?

Buy, hope Vlad and the others get back to norms, and then set the franchise back if the Jays don't make the playoffs this year instead of reallocating pending FA for future assets.

"Do you really judge all players only by what they've done in the first four months of this season?"

Not "only" and it depends player to player (were they hurt, are they old? et...) what someone has done so far this season is by far biggest factor in predicting what they will do in next couple of months.

With the current playoff format and the Blue Jays’ financial resources, there is a strong incentive to try to ensure an annual floor of around 85+ wins. There is less incentive to sacrifice that continuous goal for a one-time shot at a WC3 spot.

I have yet to hear any productive and realistic trade proposals for the Blue Jays. I see Detmers and Soriano as possible trade targets — do people have a preference for one or the other? Both are having good seasons and are controllable for a couple of more years. Detmers is a year younger and walks fewer batters, but he has a limited track record as a starter and his average velo is around 94 (as a SP). Soriano throws around 97 but his walk rate is a bit high. He might be someone Pete Walker could help elevate his game.

Bannon (The Athletic) says the recent hot stretch “is not expected to change Toronto’s trade deadline strategy, said league sources who spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss deadline plans.”

And: the team is “open to moving their expiring contracts, which includes those for starters Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber, DH George Springer and outfielder Daulton Varsho.” Hoffman “may also be traded.” They may also deal “prospects for a big league piece with multiple years of control or take on a player with a significant contract who would bolster the MLB team.”

Soriano would be exactly the type of pitcher they should be targeting. Just not sure we line up with the Angels in a way it would make sense. If it can be done for Keys, Stanifer, plus prospects below the jays top 10, then yeah. But I doubt that would get it done. I would think LA would want someone young who is already on the Jays 24 man roster, controllable and potential future star. But we dont have any of those. (that are healthy) Including Valenzuela would be a no if it was up to me.

I'd go with Soriano without hesitation. He's given fewer HR and I still trust the Jays' defense.

Also, Detmers is a lefty and Schneider doesn't know how to handle them.
He follows a lefty with lefty relievers because the high leverage guys are right handed which means middle relief disadvantage and then the opposite manager can pinch hit against Hoffman.  It's kinda like that ad where he gives up a homer in a videogame...

I want this FO to buy right now, but not SP and not rentals. I want them to buy controllable players like Soriano or Demers except a top 5 batter rather than pitcher. Then I want them to sign a few pitchers in the off season like they usually do.

can't see the Jays giving up what LAA would want for Soriano (ERA+ over 120 for the 3rd time in 4 seasons and under team control for 2 more years after this one) or Detmers (same length of control, but just a 91 ERA+ lifetime, 102 this year). Of course, it all depends on how good the GM for the LAA is (Perry Minasian) - given this is their 3rd straight year in 5th place in the AL West, last 2nd place was 2017, last playoffs was 2014 - I doubt he is that good (in charge since 2020). Just 1 top 100 prospect in their system pre 2026 (Tyler Bremner - drafted in '25 2nd overall, ERA over 4 in A+ at 22), 2 others in '25 (both with negative bWAR this year), I wouldn't be shocked if he could be fleeced.

I'm expecting a deal with Philly still. That is where my chips are - multiple parts here for top prospects from them, as they are desperate (near end of success cycle, little hope for future once current stars are done - Aidan Miller is their big minor leaguer - at 21 in AA/AAA hitting 264/392/433 at SS, so a good one potentially, then the 2 guys I've mentioned a few times in Painter & Crawford, BP adds in Gage Wood (102 K in 68 IP this year) & Aroon Escobar ('hitting' 223/328/311 in AA at 21).

Escobar obviously holds zero interest right now, Wood would be nice, Painter & Crawford both need work but could be good, and Miller is not available I'd think. Francisco Renteria in the DSL would be sweet - 17 and hitting 358/439/605 in CF. They seem to have a few in the DSL who are interesting. But no idea if they are any good (projectable) beyond what I see in the stats. Pat Gillick would've found a way to get Renteria tossed in as part of a deal (like he did with Fred McGriff) but nowadays GM's are that foolish.

Of course, it all depends on how good the GM for the LAA is (Perry Minasian)

Old friend Perry Minasian was fired by Anaheim a month ago. Replaced by former STL GM John Mozeliak.

"what someone has done so far this season is by far biggest factor in predicting what they will do in next couple of months."

This is extremely, extremely wrong.

"Buy, hope Vlad and the others get back to norms, and then set the franchise back if the Jays don't make the playoffs this year instead of reallocating pending FA for future assets."

Players "getting back to norms" isn't a hope, it's the reasonable expectations.

And no i don't think missing out on more Blosses and Mcadoos and Clases will "set the franchise back", while i do think there's a good chance doing a fire sale right now and bailing on a world series team a half season later while 3.5gms out WOULD actually "set the franchise back" both with fans and with potential free agent targets.

Don’t worry ugly. These people who’ve been listening to JD Bunkis prattle on all week about “pieces” and “assets” are convinced giving up on the season in early August is a wise move.

Like Springer is at a 127wrc+ over his last 236pa.

Kirk is at a 114wrc+ over his last 83pa (and only has 140pa on the season).

These guys have already returned to their reasonable expectations. Both are well within striking range of their preseason projections, and should keep hitting at that level the rest of the way.

Peralta off the board.

You guys kill me. Springer has been hitting for 2+ months now and the offense still stinks overall. Kirk has been hitting for a month now.

These two didn't just start hitting yesterday. So the fact that they have been back to normal for a while now, and the offense has still been ~dead last in virtually every offensive category that matters literally works against the point you are trying to make.

I briefly tried listening to Bunkis once, when Davidi was a guest on the show, and I came away with a much more favourable impression of Davidi than I did of Bunkis. I haven’t listened to the show since.

Ugly, I don't think it's reasonable to expect your biggest wild card, Vlad, to return to his norm since it's already an anomaly he's pooping the bed this year. He is clearly having some major mechanical issues and it would be seriously inept to pretend he's expected to turn back into an all star soon without some serious work.

Nah, Ugly is expecting Vlad to put up a 180 wRC+ out of nowhere the next two months despite literally 0 positive signs.

And to Meta’s point… Springer has been on fire for 6-8 weeks and Kirk has turned it around as well yet the offence was still last for the month of July.

Yes vlad will never hit again. That's definitely the reasonable expectation.

And yes, terrible july (81wrc+ over 24gms), but now suddenly "out of nowhere" a 111wrc+ over their last 8gms.

The Jays go as Vlad goes. Vlad has not gotten it going and, lo and behold, the offence is bad, and that's even with Springer and Kirk hitting pretty well for a while now. With this version of Vlad the Jays are not going anywhere. It's not as simple as just assuming that any day now he's going to start hitting great again. Clearly there's something going on there (back issue maybe) that's been lingering a long time.

They're not in a position to buy rentals.

I’ll say this about the Jays. They seem to be laying off more pitches the past week or so. They aren’t necessarily hitting the ball harder or scoring more runs but the opposition starters have had to work much harder.

They’ve also faced some pretty trash starters over the last 7-10 days…

Earlier this week Ben Clemens at FG in response to a question about the worst contract in baseball.

Vladito, I’m afraid. It’s the 2nd-largest in the game, it was given to a guy who has only intermittently played up to superstar status and who already has some physical concerns, and it runs through 2039, the year before time as we know it will cease to exist.

Anyways, Peralta got 3 B/C prospects. And he's probably worth more than out guys.

Interesting graphic in today's game.

vs power pitchers Jays offence is 16th.
vs finesse pitchers Jays offence is 28th.

They’ve also faced some pretty trash starters over the last 7-10 days…

They have been getting shut out by average or worse starters, and then have "hit" some of the worst relievers they will see all season over the past two series. The Cardinals' bullpen is gassed and they have been sending out their D-tier relievers. That is who the Jays have had some success against. Even today...its 5+ ERA Matt Liberatore holding them to 1 hit through 3 innings.

If all they got for Peralta were 3 B/C prospects, teams are obviously valuing his last 4 months more than his track record of success.

Anyways, Peralta got 3 B/C prospects. And he's probably worth more than out guys.

LOL. Peralta is trash this season. Peralta: 1.2 fWAR Gausman: 2.6 fWAR Yes, Peralta is owed less money. But the Jays can just choose to pay off all of ort most of Gausman's remaining salary if they feel that they can't get under the CBT threshold regardless.

but Metafour and Chris, there's no argument from you guys for the Blue Jays not to add pieces that can help now and in future (i.e. controllable pieces = not rentals) since the trade return prospects don't look very enticing.

Is Max trying to make himself tradeable?

Combined Projections

Skubal (29) 2.83era 2.70fip
Soriano (27) 3.89era 3.76fip
Gausman (35) 3.91era 3.78fip
Peralta (30) 4.05era 4.07fip
Castillo (33) 4.23era 4.34fip


I imagine most teams are looking at something similar to this.

Gausman projects a bit better than Peralta but the 5yr age gap adds more risk to gausman.

Sorry, busy watching Vlad today and how obvious it is he’s right on the verge of breaking out!!

Dude you're borderline trolling at this point. Just accept you're not going to change one person's opinion and move on...

but Metafour and Chris, there's no argument from you guys for the Blue Jays not to add pieces that can help now and in future (i.e. controllable pieces = not rentals) since the trade return prospects don't look very enticing.

1) They should look to add controllable long-term talent regardless. I've never argued against this. Note: I don't consider Bo Bichette and Lindor as being in this camp.

2) What are "enticing" prospects to you? Two of the Jays' best performing players this season are Spencer Miles and Brandon Valenzuela, neither of whom was deemed to be worth ****-all as a prospect. Miles was a Rule 5 pick, and Valenzuela was a fringe Top 30 prospect who was traded for Billy Wagner...who was the #3 piece in the Kikuchi return. Last year's WS team received significant performance from Brayden Fisher, who was a fringe prospect acquired for Cavan Biggio. Please do not argue with me and try to pretend like only "ELITE" prospects are worth anything. I'm seeing this silly argument thrown around a LOT lately: "durrr you're just getting a team's #12 prospect, who even cares?". If MLB talent is being moved for "fringe prospects" this year, then these same prospects can be used at next year's deadline to buy MLB talent in the event that the Jays actually rebound. They don't even have to succeed here to be valuable, even if it means that they "only" return a rental reliever for a postseason run in 2027

Furthermore, I fail to see what is even the argument here from your end. If they hold onto all of these expiring deals and fail to make the playoffs (as every computer model expects), then you will have paid their salary on top of not returning anything for them. Are you arguing that this is a BETTER option than returning a handful of ~35-45+ FV prospects, of which one of them has the possibility of breaking out?

Zyhir Hope, the top piece in the Skubal trade, was acquired by the Dodgers from the Cubs in a package in exchange for Michael Busch. He was an 18 year old recently drafted in the 11th round out of HS. And today he returns Tarik Skubal. What, the Dodgers are dumb for trading for fringe 18 year old prospects? They Mike Sirota (one of their other elite outfielders) in a trade for Gavin Lux, who sucks. Mike Sirota was not an "elite prospect" at the time of that trade, but he is today.

Really sick of the Dodgers. The best argumwnt for a cap AMD a floor.I dont believe in either, though. (A floor is probably good for labour, by getting more average players money it's not going to help with better decisions). It is an indictment of other owners that they're allowing the Dodgers to collect all these stars. While the league is probably happy, it's not good for the league.

Jameson Taillon is now a Jay.

Today’s offensive performance (pun intended:)) is pretty much making the case for selling:). Acquiring Taillon confirms it. Max was excellent today - a very enjoyable watch.

Acquiring Taillon tells me that they're trading away pitcher(s). This gives you a guy who can step in and eat some innings if you remove Gausman, Bieber, Scherzer.

What a horrific offence. My word.

Max is the one rental I would be happy keeping and I wouldn't be surprised if the Jays do hold on to him.

Yup, here comes the selling. Just please get a controllable bat that can hit in the top of the line up at any cost.

"Are you arguing that this is a BETTER option than returning a handful of ~35-45+ FV prospects, of which one of them has the possibility of breaking out?" yes that's my argument but I base it on a return of 35-45 prospects (no +) which I equate to AAAA players. If this FO was the Rays or Dodgers FO I would have more faith that they would find more upside from these types but this FO has a penchant for innings waters, "high floor," and just plain "controllable" players more so than prospects that outperform their predicted future values.

Don't worry guys, Vlad is about to break out at any minute now to propel this magical fairytale Jays rebound.

0 runs through 6 vs. Liberatore. The offense is firing on all cylinders here, right on time for us to start buying at the deadline.

This front office isn't stupid guys. They are going to trade the expiring contracts.

This year should basically remind the FO that Tucker, Bo et all are not "nice players to compliment" bad Vlad but straight up necessities to have a contingency plan.

This team needs an RBI and on base power hitter to be competitive now and in the future.

Clement looks so much better at 3rd than 2B. Miles looks good in the middle inning leverage role but I think he has enough weapons to be a starter. I hope that is the plan for next year.

Just a wild guess here. How about Brooks Caple to the Jays for Jeff Hoffman.

How did that ball not get caught? It hit about 4 feet up the wall!

We’re on the verge of breaking out as long as we face brutal pitchers with horrible D

Bo 86 wRC+
Tucker 97 wRC+
Okamoto 111 wRC+

The Jays did pick up the best bat of the 3 so far this season and what good has it done them?

Agreed, dalimon. They also need a lot more speed.

Ugly, that 111 wrc+ you hilighted is still 20 points below his career average, and to me, still is a completely unacceptable level of production from him. To me it’s the same as saying Kirk is hitting at a 90wrc+ over his last 8 games and trying to spin that as a positive, which is obviously something no one would do.

111 is also well below league average for a 1B, let alone one with the contract Vlad has.

This offense is really really bad. Even if they sweep the Cards, I just can't believe this team can compete.

Hypobole, take out hindsight. The FO wanted Bichette or Tucker to pair with Vlad and I remember they were still offering Tucker a reported offer in the 7-10 year range after they signed Okamoto. That means they felt they wanted another "big bat" even after Okamoto but they were outbid for Tucker and didn't want to overpay Bo. My point is this FO probably said "we didn't get Kyle or Bo but we will be okay with Vlad and Okamoto. What they need to learn from that is when in the same situation again they have to understand Vlad is not an "aircraft carrier," and more likely can't be anywhere near his best self without multiple above average offensive hitters around him.

The next 3 weeks are 3 @ Astros, 3 @ Phillies, 4 vs Red Sox,3 vs NYY, 3 @ Tampa, 3 @ NYY, with one game at Wrigley. Every one of those teams should be better than they were this morning.

Petey! This would have been a great time for a “They’re buying!” :)

So much trolling here.

This is the situation: I'm more excited to have Urias at the plate than Vlad who is on deck.

Honestly what is the drawback to dropping Vlad to 5th or lower? If you did it to Bo last year why not the Vlad this year?

"So much trolling here."

Have you appointed yourself as the moderator here, dalimon? Nobody else has.

I hope you’re wrong about the aircraft carrier point, dalimon. That’s a scary thing to be saying about someone in the first year of the second biggest contract in the league. I’m holding out hope for this being a weird anomaly year

Yes metafour, and everybody knows the Dodgers hampered their playoff chances when they traded away Michael Busch and Gavin Lux. This site was up in arms when the Jays traded away Tommy Nance.

The game isn’t played on a computer, and there’s value in not punting seasons. I was out with a few Jays seasons ticket holders yesterday and none of them were too excited about trading away Gausman and Springer for some lottery tickets. A couple of them have the premium subscriptions, the kind of seats that allow the team to run the payrolls we’ve been seeing lately. Lose those fans and you’ll be seeing a lot more of the Bloss and Clases of the sports.

Shi Davidi
@ShiDavidi
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2m
John Schneider: “As far as I know, everyone's getting on the plane” to Houston.

The 111wrc+ I referenced was for the team, not vladdy.

Vladito, I’m afraid. It’s the 2nd-largest in the game, it was given to a guy who has only intermittently played up to superstar status and who already has some physical concerns, and it runs through 2039, the year before time as we know it will cease to exist.
I'm aware of Y2K38, but what's in 2040?

The Jays just won a series and still managed to look awful doing it. I don't think there is a debate about selling at this point. Worrying about season ticket holders and fan reaction in general is why the Jays have a $500M mascot signed until the end of time. They need to do what's best for the baseball team, not the marketing department. Selling the impending FAs (at the minimum) and looking for opportunities to buy on controllable talent should be the way here.

Agreed, SK.

They need to do what's best for the baseball team, not the marketing department.

Actually I'd say that's what's best for the marketing department in the long run is precisely the same as doing what's best for the baseball team. What sells Jays tickets and eyeballs and drives fan interest is winning. That and absolutely nothing else. They can't be afraid of trading popular players who are pending free agents in a season that's going down the drain if it's going to help 2027 and beyond. Luckily I'm sure this front office is not afraid of that.

We got what, 1 hit and 1 BB in 6 innings against a AAAA guy with a 5+ ERA?!? And we're about to "break out" and next week we'll get 3 hits against AAAA starters?

Heck, even if Vlad had gotten ONE HIT to go with his golden sombrero I might give us a chance... Instead, he's flailing away on a 3-1 pitch a foot away and almost in the dirt with a runner at 3rd and 1 out (IIRC).. At this point, Vlad has to be "most likely to become an albatross" contract unless things change drastically. Not the worst contract yet, but definitely trending that way.

And before people complain about me wanting them to lose - starting last November, I was leading the cheers in the Leafs group on reddit: Spring Training starts in February. Except that we didn't get the same team back, not even close. Of those teams trailing for a WC, our run differential is much closer to LAST in the AL than 3WC. -51 or now -55 runs or something - that's like 3rd worst in the AL, IIRC - not "they got unlucky and are about to go on a run". That SCREAMS "sell every expiring contract for lottery tickets". 

Sure, I HOPE they've had conversations with Gaus, Springer, etc about maybe coming back on cheaper incentive deals. If they're smart, they'll understand it's not personal and not hold it against us. But for most, it's just PR / empty words, and they'll sign with the highest bidder, regardless of what they said in August at the trade deadline. Few players that signed with a different team in FA (Springer, Gaus, etc) will give a discount to the Blue Jays - none of them grew up cheering for us. The Yankees / Red Sox / Dodgers / Giants / Braves etc can maybe get those deals.

I woulda liked Garcia jr for us.

Keegan Matheson
@KeeganMatheson
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Max Scherzer reiterated that if the #BlueJays do sell, it's on them as players, but added:

"If they don’t sell, great. We’re getting 40,000 fans a night. We want to go out there and play. We’re only a few games out of the Wild Card and anything can happen. We're a good team."

Jays need a corner outfielder.

Yeah, like this is spot for rational discussion and analysis based on data. Been here for twenty four years, it's why I keep coming back among other reasons. So if I've been trolling people, I apologize.
I think the non-seller take if you will, adopted by myself 92-93 and ugly are more analytically based. The numbers say, when they're all crunched, this is an 85-90 win team. They haven't played like it...obviously. Today, the offense showed for the umpteenth time (and Vlad in particular) that they are just not locked in. Maybe it's the lack of four seam fastballs and the steady diet of sinkers pitchers have thrown oodles of this year. Maybe it's the World Series hangover. Maybe the injuries in the early part of the season messed with the chemistry and all the good vibes, as well as obviously the production lost.
I'll put my faith in the numbers though, and I'm confident they somehow find a way to get close to that projected win total and be playing meaningful baseball in September. Which is why I hope the team doesn't trade anyone tonight or tomorrow that hinders them from getting there.

also, i value a fight for a playoff spot more than a handful of B/C prospects, even if they fall short.

Hear, hear.

Gausman to the Cubs

Let's see return (please not Triantos).

Mitch Bannon
@MitchBannon
Told the return is OF Brett Bateman and INF Ty Southisene.

If that's the return, I hate it. Two guys with no power, great contact skills, low upside.

INF Ty Southisene R/R #13 mlb

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 20 | Run: 55 | Arm: 50 | Field: 50 | Overall: 40

One of four baseball-playing brothers, Southisene has a twin (Tee) who pitches at CC of Southern Nevada, a younger sibling (Tate) whom the Braves drafted in 2025's first round and an even younger brother (Troy) who's a 2026 prep prospect committed to Oregon State. A fourth-rounder in 2024, Ty was one of the least physical players in his class but earned an over-slot $1 million bonus thanks to his high baseball IQ and long track record of performing well with USA Baseball and on the showcase circuit. He batted .244/.387/.276 with 41 steals in 90 Single-A games during his pro debut, ranking fifth in the Carolina League in runs (69) and on-base percentage.

Southisene employs a very patient and sometimes passive approach to make a lot of contact, especially against fastballs, and get on base. But his flat right-handed swing and utter lack of strength resulted in the third-worst isolated power (.032) and seventh-worst ground-ball rate (60 percent) in the full-season Minors last year. He can put the bat on the ball vs. secondary pitches but rarely hits them with any authority, slashing .159/.261/.167 against them in 2025.

Southisene's profile is similar to Nick Allen's with better on-base skills and quickness but not quite the Gold Glove-caliber defense. Not only does he have solid speed and twitchy athleticism, but he also has the instincts to make the most of them. He compensates for his average arm strength with a quick release and has gotten the job done at shortstop this season after spending his first full season at second base.

OF Brett Bateman L/L #21 mlb

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 20 | Run: 70 | Arm: 55 | Field: 65 | Overall: 40

Bateman played with Cubs manager Craig Counsell's son Brady at Minnesota, where he developed into one of the best contact hitters, fastest runners and top defenders in the 2023 college crop. But his utter lack of power affected his Draft stock, even after he batted .500 during a two-week stint in the Cape Cod League, and he dropped to Chicago in the eighth round. He overcame surgery on his right hamate last February to hit .261/.376/.307 at Double-A, ranking third in walk rate (15 percent) and sixth in on-base percentage.

A left-handed hitter, Bateman rarely strays from the strike zone, rarely hits balls with authority and rarely lifts them in the air. He lacks strength and understands his limitations, so he focuses on reaching base by drilling grounders through holes in the defense and working walks. His approach comes at the expense of any power, and he's a career .315 slugger with three homers in 233 pro games.

Bateman's game is built around his plus-plus speed, which he uses to beat out hits, steal bases and chase down balls from gap to gap in center field. A two-way player until he had elbow surgery following his freshman year with the Gophers, he has solid arm strength and has notched 22 assists in 223 starts in center. He has drawn comparisons to Orioles 2023 first-rounder Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Myles Straw.

Sigh, brutal return. If that was the best we could get, why not just hold.

2 guys with 20 power on a team that literally can’t slug…

Hopefully Atkins does better on the other deals.

Yikes. 2 babip flukes. Numbers only decent even with the babip. That's ugly.

Possible they want to shed payroll to get under the luxury cap.

Southisene is 21 years old and playing in high A.

Bateman is in AAA and is 24 years old.

I’ve been confused about why there was a view that Gausman was going to net a return of a top 100 prospect or close to it. I feel slightly better that I’m not losing my marbles.

Baseball America has Southisene at number ten, Bateman is not ranked.

If that's the best you can do, why not wait until tomorrow and see if someone blinks? Both guys have a high floor and low ceiling but Jays simply don't need either of these players. They have enough "contact guys with no power who can maybe make it as a bench guy." this front office just seems completely obsessed with contact ability above all else and I don't get it. Take some swings at some upside guys instead of these potential utility players.

Fangraphs has Southisene at 27, Bateman 30.

Fangraphs on Southisene:

The Cubs paid Southisene $1 million to bypass his commitment to Tennessee, and while we like him, we didn’t consider him a seven-figure prospect at draft time. Southisene plays with undeniable energy and hustle. He’s short, ultra-twitchy little guy with a rhythmic swing, a hand hitch trigger, average bat speed, and a pretty extreme opposite field tendency. Southisene had more walks than strikeouts in his pro debut and stole 41 bases, but he slugged under .300, which is consistent with our visual report of his power. He makes some nice plays at short because of guile and grit, but some of those plays are the kind that more typically-sized shortstops make look routine. We like Southisene as a grinder extra infielder and expect that he’ll begin to play other positions as he traverses the minors.

And Fangraphs on Bateman.

Bateman posted a .319/.406/.373 career line at Minnesota and has continued to post great on-base numbers so far in pro ball, in part because he is one of the more patient, thumb-twiddling hitters in the minors. He tracks pitches well, covers the top of the strike zone, and slaps a lot of contact to the opposite field. Bateman runs just well enough to stick in center field, and he plays the position with the sort of infectious, reckless abandon that fires up his teammates. At 5-foot-10, he’s smaller than a typical big leaguer; Giants outfielder Will Brennan (who got stronger in pro ball, but still isn’t especially powerful or big) is a fair comp for what to hope Bateman can grow into. Especially if opposing pitchers attack him fearlessly due to his lack of power, his OBP skills will probably dip if he ever gets sustained big league run. Still, Bateman’s ability to play a decent center field should keep him on the 40-man fringe for a while.

Hate to say I told you so...

Metafour, do we have enough AAAA guys yet or should we see what Bieber nets us?

I assume that Bateman is being looked at as a potential fourth outfielder if Straw is traded at the deadline or will get a run at earning the starting CF job next year.

I'm sure the Jays like both of these players more than the consensus, but it's not a particularly noteworthy return. I never thought Gausman was going to get a Top 100 prospect, but this is less than what I thought they'd get.

Yeah the Taillon acquisition foreshadowed this. It definitely was a down year for Gausman, he seemed to be getting a bit unlucky but Jameson may end up outperforming him the rest of the year. Will Gausman pitch against them Thursday? Would the Jays put Taillon in that spot. That would be a trip.

Seems a bit underwhelming, but exactly the type of position players I thought they would add - good hitters without present power.

Posted this before:
"The Jays are really good at building strength. Their guys get stronger and tend to do so quickly. This is a good home for interesting players with below-average (or worse) present power or velocity, and Toronto seems to take at least some players with that in mind. Jake Cook and Blaine Bullard may or may not develop more pop, but they couldn’t be in a better spot to try."

Jay Harry was the poster child this year, but Bullard has also shown more pop than he was believed to have had.

I’ll say again. Unfortunately, the Jays have very little of value to sell and, because they have little value, they have little value to the Jays in making a push for a playoff push this year. This deadline is a red herring.

This is what I mean when I say "why bother?" Not that I think a playoff charge is unlikely but rather - if THIS is what your potentially best asset gets you, what's the point?

"Because you're too far out to spend the next 2 months trying to sneak in," or something. Problem is their argument was based on false assumption of solid returns.

I'm hopeful Hoffman will get a significantly better haul, but he doesn't have to be moved. If he could be packaged with Varsho I'd be over the moon.

That the Cubs seem to be assuming all of Gausman's money obviously lowers the return. I don't mind the return as I'm more partial to contact hitters and these are assets that the jays could subsequently move, though I think Bateman will get an audition in CF maybe even this year if the Jays find a taker for Varsho.

Bateman seems a bit more promising than Southinene yet all the majors rank the latter higher. I wonder what's up with that?

This is less than I thought they'd get back and I would have held on to Gausman until tomorrow, but both of these two prospects are exact copies of the profile they have been hammering lately repeatedly, so clearly they are targeting these guys with more intrigue than the face value reaction (for whatever developmental plan/vision they seem to have). I haven't seen whether its been reported yet if the Cubs are taking on the entirety of Gausman's salary, but I'd assume so based on this return (and I'm not sure if that went into the decision here).

Either way, I will never agree with the "do nothing and pray for a miracle even though the team is cheeks" stance so I'm not sure why you guys are beating your chests lol. Yes, I'd rather take two Top 30 prospects than watch this team score 1-run a game for the remainder of Gausman's contract.

Yeah, I like Bateman a fair bit more. If his D is +z there is chance he can be starter. More likely a decent replacement for Straw though. Southisene just turned 21 so he's young and I guess that gives teams more time to try to develop him but he's like maybe another Kasevich right now which is meh.

So many here have ideas of how FO's should work.

I posted a while ago that the main priority of the front office this trade deadline would be shedding salary. Still believe that to be the case. Yeah, if they retained, they may have gotten a couple of 40 FV's, instead of the 2 35's. However the Cubs offered them a couple of kids who fit the MO of what the Jays PD is good at so they jumped on the offer.

Right in line with the quality of return I expected Gausman to get in this market, if not a little better. More impressive return than Freddy Peralta.

It's two months+ of Gausman... the Jays get a guaranteed big leaguer (and maybe their 2027 center-fielder, at worst a Myles Straw replacement) and a possible bench bat. Two middle-of-the-diamond athletes.

I just assume that the Cubs were his preferred destination

I understand that posters here are disappointed that the ceiling for both of these new prospects is limited due to their lack of any slugging potential.

But Bateman potentially fills a hole for 2027 in that the team didn't have a true CF in the system to fill the opening next year (or Tuesday) that arises when Daulton Varsho moves on.

I personally don't think the Jays can seriously compete in 2027 with a platoon of Nathan Lukes & Myles Straw (8 million for a 70 wRC+) in CF. At least Bateman potentially gives an option of a poor man's Chandler Simpson going into ST.

I’m struggling with the sense of disappointment in the return here and elsewhere. It’s unfortunate because it is both unrealistic and interfering with what I believe should be the reaction: one of the very good to great all time Jays has moved on. I loved everything about Gausman. That he was somehow getting away with basically just two pitches, the backstory and his embracing Toronto (and Canada). I’m doing a silent toast with a glass to Gausman. Class act in every way.

Thank you Nigel. Well said and wholeheartedly agree.

That you hypobole. My 21 year old daughter, who is one of the toughest humans alive, teared up at the news of his trade (her favourite player). I’m all for unemotional analysis (I lean strongly that way myself) but let’s save one moment for one of the good guys.

The Jays will save on Gausman but most of that will pay for Taillon.

I hope the Jays trade Varsho for a low minor prospect. That would balance things out.
It's so difficult to get pitching back in those trades.

I think a lot of the sense of disappointment comes from the types of players the Jays chose. You can tell they liked the return by how early the deal was done. If you don't like it, wait until deadline day and teams can get desperate. They actively seek out these low-power, high contact guys. I get Bateman as the second guy. Will be useful for the Jays and help them save money in short-term because none of their AAA OFers are CF but why choose Southisene? He has zero power and because he's tiny, he's unlikely to ever have power no matter how you try to fix his swing.