Blue Jays' Trade Deadline Approach Raised More Questions Than Answers
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The Blue Jays acquired some solid pieces over the past two days, headlined by Jose Soriano. Collectively, however, the puzzle didn't make sense.
Toronto is dead last in the Majors in runs. They have not finished last in the Majors in runs since the strike-shortened 1981 season, when Jesse Barfield made his Major League debut, and Jessie's Girl was topping the charts.
But it is not a fluke.
Category | 2026 Blue Jays | MLB Rank (out of 30) |
|---|---|---|
Runs/game | 3.91 | 30th |
Home Runs | 108 | T-28th |
On-Base Percentage (OBP) | .304 | 29th |
Slugging Percentage (SLG) | .378 | 29th |
Stolen Bases | 51 | T-27th |
They don't hit for power. They don't get on base. They don't run.
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the double play? Because they have grounded into the 11th most of those, too, which is hard to do given the low on-base percentage.
So, naturally, almost all of their key trade-deadline acquisitions were pitchers.
But wait, there's more.
They also traded away their second-best hitting prospect, Arjun Nimmala.
The one mistake the Blue Jays could not make at this deadline was not to trade for either young, Major League-ready power hitters or power-hitting prospects. There are no game-changers available as free agents this offseason, and other than Sean Keys, they are short on sluggers in the upper minors.
Toronto did need to upgrade its rotation for 2027, and they did improve it with Soriano, who has the stuff to make a Cease-like leap next year. But he has had that stuff for the past four years and has not made it yet.
Expect the Blue Jays to change his pitch mix to throw fewer four-seamers and more of his power sinker, his curve that tops Major League starters in whiff percentage, and potentially add a changeup to the mix like Cease has this year. Given the price of pitching, it is understandable they saw the potential for Soriano to go from good to great and took a shot.
Their other trade pieces, though, should have been focused on getting bats in return.
Spencer Arrighetti, like Soriano, has good stuff, but he walks the house. Actually, he walks the whole homeowners association at 5.2 BB/9. The Blue Jays acquired Arrighetti in exchange for Daulton Varsho, who batted cleanup last night for the Astros.
Pete Walker might be able to shape him into a #4 starter, or perhaps his stuff plays up in a bullpen role. In August of 2024, he had games with 11, 12, and 13 strikeouts and looked to be on the verge of a breakout. This May, he was the American League pitcher of the month, going 4-0 with a 1.93 ERA, but the signs of regression were clear as he struck out 22 and walked 17 in 29 innings.
Sure enough, he had a 9.00 ERA in June and a 7.31 ERA in July before heading to the injured list due to right foot nerve irritation between his third and fourth toes.
The two prospects they got in return for Kevin Gausman have all the power of a bowl of Ramen noodles.
Ty Southisene is 5'7" and has 20-grade power, the lowest possible scouting grade. He has zero home runs in 576 professional at-bats.
Brett Bateman has 30-grade power. Both 20 and 30 grades are defined as "non-competitive" at the Major League level. He does bring speed and defense, but so does Myles "Paper" Straw.
On the other hand, they will fit right in, and both have hit as many home runs this year at the Rogers Centre as Vladdy.
The top prospect they got back from Minnesota in exchange for Jeff Hoffman was Dasan Hill. MLB Pipeline slotted him in as Toronto's 6th-rated prospect, and in isolation, he is not a bad return for Hoffman, but he, too, does his work on the hill and not the batter's box.
George Springer was not traded, but he will very likely not be with Toronto next season (let's think positively and assume there is a season). That will leave the Blue Jays with one hitter, Kazuma Okamoto, with more than eight home runs so far this year.
There were some bats traded at the deadline and in the week prior. The Yankees acquired Luis Garcia Jr., who has 24 home runs, led the National League in slugging percentage, and is under team control for 2027. He could have stepped into the DH spot. The Red Sox acquired Curtis Mead, who had hit 17 home runs before a fractured wrist in his second at-bat with Boston put him on the injured list.
Sometimes you have take what the market is giving, and there were definitely more arms on the move yesterday than bats. But with the resources of Rogers Communications, it was time to get creative.
Last night's starting outfield of Jesus Sanchez in left, Straw in center, and Nathan Lukes in right has combined for 15 home runs this year.
76 players have more than that on their own.
The Blue Jays won last night 3-1. They are clearly leaning into pitching and defense. But they will have to win a lot of 3-1 games this season and in the seasons to come if they continue to ignore the offense.
The Blue Jays had an interesting but ultimately head-scratching deadline. They did trade away their expiring contracts in Gausman and Varsho and got a solid prospect for Hoffman, but ultimately they did nothing to address their biggest problem and may have made it worse over the long term.
Grade: D+
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Adam Steinmetz writes about the Toronto Blue Jays for On SI. Adam is also the editor and publisher of the Boston Sunday Sports Section, a weekly digital publication covering the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins. A two-time winner of the Best Collegiate Sports Writer award in Philadelphia, he began his career with freelance work for The Philadelphia Daily News and The Palm Beach Post before building a successful career outside of journalism. He returned to sports writing last year, contributing to Pitcher List—including coverage of the Toronto Blue Jays—before launching Authorenticity on Substack, where he explores the human stories within baseball. The Boston Sunday Sports Section is his most ambitious project — the thinking fan’s modern Sunday Sports Section focused on the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins.