Analysis: Jays balance current big league roster and team’s future at trade deadline

Notable departures ahead of the trade deadline were starting pitcher Kevin Gausman, outfielder Daulton Varsho, and relief pitchers Jeff Hoffman and Adam Macko. Gausman, Varsho and Hoffman were all critical parts of Toronto’s post-season run last year.

“Disappointed not to be adding to this group that we believe in and at the start of the season had so much great hope for,” said Atkins in a video call with reporters late Monday. “We would much prefer that we were in a position to not be subtracting some of the great teammates and names that have been here.”

There are several obvious reasons why the Blue Jays were trading away major league talent.

According to RotoWire, a fantasy sports news website, Toronto had the seventh-worst weighted injury score in MLB this year with 16 players spending time on the 60-day injured list at one point or another. That includes long stints on the shelf for key players like Anthony Santander (left shoulder surgery), Shane Bieber (right elbow inflammation), Alejandro Kirk (thumb surgery), Cody Ponce (ACL tear), Addison Barger (right elbow injury, back stress reaction) and Max Scherzer (right forearm tendinitis, left ankle inflammation, back spasms).

The Blue Jays have also scored the fewest runs in all of Major League Baseball, with 442 heading into the game in Houston, four runs less than the Cleveland Guardians. That anemic offence has contributed to a minus-56 run differential, the seventh worst in the majors.

That includes significant regressions from key hitters, including all-star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., whose batting average has dropped 31 points from .292 last season to .261. He’s also hit just six home runs this season, none of them at Rogers Centre.

“We have not performed to our capabilities, and now the front office might have to make decisions about our roster because of that,” said Scherzer on Sunday before Atkins started making trades. “I understand that. I respect what the front office has to do. They’ve got to make decisions that are best for the organization.

“If they sell, that’s on us. That’s on us as players that we have not done our job of holding up our end of the bargain and going out there and winning ball games.”

Toronto did add major-league quality players, however, including pitchers Jameson Taillon and Jose Soriano, the latter of whom was in the midst of his best-ever season with the Los Angeles Angels when he was traded.

The 27-year-old Soriano has a 9-6 record so far this season with a career-best 3.29 earned-run average and 2.7 Wins Above Replacement, a metric that estimates the total number of team wins a player contributes compared to an average replacement. He’s struck out 127 hitters and leads the American League with only 57 walks issued.

“We are fortunate that we were able to add some Major League pieces to a group that we feel like can compete,” said Atkins.

Varsho’s departure was particularly interesting.

A Gold Glove-winning centre-fielder in 2024 with power at the plate, the 29-year-old was having a down season. He hit .243 with seven home runs in 99 games this season, similar to the .238 average he posted in an injury-shortened 2025 but well below the 20 home runs he hit last year.

Most concerning for a defence-first player, his 0.7 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) — a metric that estimates a player’s overall value, including defence — was his lowest since his rookie season, when he posted a 0.1 mark with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Atkins said that balancing the current Blue Jays roster and the franchise’s long-term success was one of the front office’s goals at the deadline.

“We were determined to do what was best for the organization and try to optimize things given a situation that was less than ideal,” said Atkins. “We feel good about our outcome. The acquisitions that can help the major league team in the short term, some acquisitions that are close and some acquisitions that are further away.

“But balancing that out, we felt was a good outcome for the organization moving forward.”

That includes adding left-handed pitcher Dasan Hill, who becomes the Blue Jays’ sixth-ranked prospect; infielder Ty Southisene, who ranks 17th; and centre-fielder Brett Bateman, who becomes Toronto’s 20th-ranked prospect and a potential replacement for Varsho.

Putting an emphasis on future prospects is also important, as Major League Baseball and its players’ association appear to be headed toward labour strife this off-season. The key issue between the two sides is team owners’ desire to introduce some kind of salary cap to create greater competitive parity, a policy the union has vowed never to accept.

If the Major League Baseball Players’ Association goes on strike or team owners decide to lock out the players, minor-league play will still continue. That means prospects like Hill, Southisene and Bateman would still get to play somewhere.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Analysis: Jays balance current big league roster and team’s future at trade deadline

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