2026 Trade Deadline Final Hours Live Blog!

• Jump to Opening Thoughts (aka the Gausman and Soriano of it All)
• Jump to Varsho to Houston for Spencer Arrighetti
• Jump to MINOR MOVE: Adam Macko for Josh Smith
• Jump to Hoffmania Ends!

These words would have been quite different if I had written them on Sunday night, but thanks to MLB’s annual trade deadline falling this year, for some reason, on the Monday of a long weekend—at least for us here in Canada—we’re getting a late start. And what that means is that two rather seismic deals have already been made by Ross Atkins and company. The first, in case you’ve somehow missed it, saw the Jays deal beloved starter Kevin Gausman to the Chicago Cubs for outfield prospect Brett Bateman, and infielder Ty Southisene. And the second saw them acquire right-hander José Soriano from the Angels, sending of of their best prospects, Arjun Nimmala, the other way, along with prospects Eddie Micheletti, an outfielder, and righty Ángel Rivero. (They have also made a minor trade while I’ve been writing this, sending lefty Adam Macko to Texas for infielder Josh Smith.)

When Gausman was moved it felt like a white flag on the 2026 season. Yes, there had been talk of the Jays attempting some kind of a hybrid buy/sell deadline—an idea that I said I loved, but that is a whole lot easier to want to do than it is to actually pull off. It’s simply a matter of incentives. Teams acquiring a player for three potential playoff runs should be willing to part with more in order to make a trade happen than a team that, realistically, will only have him for two.

I think that’s still true. The price that the Jays paid for Soriano was incredibly high. It was really hard for them to make this happen. This just seems to have been a situation where they were motivated enough to outdo everyone else.

I think there are probably three reasons for that: One, because adding a controllable mid-rotation starter now allows them to place their offseason focus elsewhere, gives them cost certainty on that front, and means they’re not going to have to scramble to fill a crucial spot. Two, because they think that they will be able to get more out of Soriano than the Angels were able to—which, given that this is the Angels we’re talking about, is certainly not a bad bet to make. And three, though this I’m less certain about, is that they think this is a good time to be getting out of the Arjun Nimmala business, and were therefore able to use the high regard he’s still held in by much of the industry as a luxury on this market—sort of like they did with Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson when they used them to get José Berríos. Or, if not exactly that, they at least continue to show that they’re one of the few front offices out there unafraid to move top tier prospects for major league talent.

Then again, maybe this is simply about JoJo Parker. Or, y’know, José Soriano.

We’ll get into some of that as we look more closely at each of the individuals involved in this deal.

Kevin Gausman

There are not enough good words that can possibly be said about Kevin Gausman. The five-year, $110 million contract he signed will go down as one of the greatest in Blue Jays history, but he obviously meant so much more than that. The way that he and his family embraced Toronto was unparalleled. He was a first class representative of the organization, a super chill-seeming and fun guy, and one of the easiest Blue Jays to cheer for in the history of the club.

Among pitchers to have thrown at least 500 innings as a member of the Jays his ERA ranks seventh, his FIP ranks third, and his fWAR ranks sixth. He is one of just seven pitchers in franchise history to record 900 or more strikeouts with the club, and all are legends: Stieb, Halladay, Clancy, Guzman, Hentgen, Key, Gausman.

Talented, durable, a competitor, a team player, a guy you don’t think twice about giving the ball to when it matters most. The city loved him, his teammates loved him, everybody loved him, and—as we can read in Richard Griffin’s great piece about Gausman’s departure from the Jays’ clubhouse on Sunday—those feelings were mutual.

He was simply on another level.

Keegan Matheson@KeeganMatheson

I rarely comment on departing players, but Kevin Gausman is different. A thoughtful, reliable and impressive person to cover. All of the reasons #BlueJays fans were drawn to Gausman are genuine and real. Model player, model representative of this organization. He did it right.

2:30 AM · Aug 3, 2026 · 109K Views

78 Replies · 341 Reposts · 5.28K Likes

The Cubs are getting a great one. And if he wants to keep pitching after this season, like just about everyone else, I truly hope it can be here once again. After all, there appears to be a wide open fifth starter spot just waiting to be filled. Spencer Miles probably can’t be stretched out yet toward a full workload, Jake Bloss’s season has been a mess, and Berríos won’t be ready to return until midseason at best.

Either way, he’ll go down as an all-timer.

Jose Soriano

As much as we all love Gausman, by sending him out and adding the 27-year-old Soriano, the Blue Jays might just have actually gotten better. And the 2027 and 2028 Blue Jays definitely got better.

That pains me to say. And Soriano is far from a perfect pitcher. Walk are a problem. Getting lefties out has been a problem (they’re slashing .238/.336/.365 against him this year, compared to .193/.231/.267 for right-handers), though the Jays may have some ideas on how to fix that…

Chris Black@DownToBlack

One of the things I'm most encouraged by when it comes to the Jose Soriano acquisition is how the Jays have a really good track record of getting lefties out with right-handed pitchers (it's one of the reasons why not having a lefty stud in their 'pen hasn't been debilitating

7:14 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 1.91K Views

1 Reply · 1 Repost · 11 Likes

Plus, his FIP and therefore his fWAR, as well as his expected ERA are all worse than Gausman’s this season, even though Soriano’s actual ERA has been more than a full run lower (3.29 to 4.38). But he’s a hard-thrower who gets a ton of swing-and-miss and can generate ground balls at an elite rate (though he’s doing that less this season).

Nick Ashbourne@NickAshbourne

In 2024 and 2025, José Soriano was a groundballer who leaned on his sinker. This year, he’s gone away from it in search of Ks. His ERA is lower in 2026, but his xERA is up. It’s not totally clear what the ideal balance is. Will be interesting to see what the Blue Jays think.

2:25 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 2.51K Views

2 Reposts · 7 Likes

Regardless, there is a whole lot to like in this profile—especially when you’ve already got the likes of Dylan Cease and Trey Yesavage at the front of your rotation.

LC@LucasCasaletto

Soriano has to get the walks in check. Otherwise, a great profile. His fastball is averaging 97 mph. 96 mph on the sinker. Limiting hitters to .190 this year on his knuckle curve. Stuff to dream on.

2:00 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 2.37K Views

2 Reposts · 14 Likes

Just a fun addition who changes the mood instantly after Gausman’s departure. That white flag maybe isn’t quite raised so high anymore, is it? Though we’ll obviously have to wait and see how much the Jays can actually improve him.

Will be fascinating to see what sort of changes they make to his pitch mix, and how well the walk rate improves by moving from a team with catchers who are poor at framing to one whose framers are elite.

Arjun Nimmala

This is a serious name for the Blue Jays to be parting with for a starter who might only end up being a mid-rotation type, but for a couple reasons I’m pretty comfortable with it at the moment.

Or… well… actually I’m pretty much always going to be comfortable moving prospects for legit, win-now, big league talent. But I mean specifically in this case.

One is that the Jays have an excellent track record when it comes to recognizing which prospects of their own to move on from, and which ones to hold more tightly.

Sure, some of those decisions have been fairly easy—keeping Vlad and Bo were no-brainers, for example. And there are definitely guys who they could have got a lot in return for if they’d traded them before things started going sideways (looking at you Nate Pearson and Ricky Tiedemann). But they made the right calls on Martin and Woods Richardson, who I mentioned above. Jordan Groshans was a good call. Khal Stephen, who went for Shane Bieber last summer and just last month had Tommy John surgery, seems like a good decision. Recognizing early what Trey Yesavage would be capable of by the end of 2025 is another example, in a different way, I think. There just isn’t a lot of regret in their track record when it comes to dealing away prospects. Their internal assessments seem strong. To me, at least.

And two, Nimmala is just… is this really going to work?

I know he’s still very young, and he’s done a great job cutting down the strikeouts in the last couple of seasons. Though he’ll likely never be a full-on slugger, the power and ability to strike the ball hard looks legit. He’s getting closer to the big league. The defence, though there are still some ugly moments (he has been charged with eight errors in just 217 2/3 innings this season), gets strong reviews and it’s generally said that he should be able to handle shortstop in the big leagues.

Lance Brozdowski@LanceBroz

Nimmala is a great get for the Angels too. He made strides on his batted-ball quality and approach this season. Data looks great. Absolutely hammering the ball. 90th pct EV near 108 and max just above 111 mph.

5:18 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 5.35K Views

1 Reply · 3 Reposts · 34 Likes

But in 2024 he was sent down from A-ball for a reset int the Complex League after struggling out of the gate, and though he ended up with 121 wRC+ for Dunedin that mark was largely power-driven, as overall he hit .232 with a .313 on-base, and struck out 31.3% of the time (despite slashing .265/.331/.564 over 53 games after his return). In ‘25 he had a great start in High-A Vancouver, but slumped badly—results-wise—in the second half of the year, putting together just a 92 wRC+ (.224/.313/.381) over 543 plate appearances. And even though the underlying numbers were actually pretty good for him in ‘25, even though that months-long slump, this season the Jays chose to start him back in High-A.

He did well there (114 wRC+) and earned a promotion, and I do understand that even then he was young for the level but 114 at age-20 isn’t exactly Bo Bichette’s 139 at 19 in that same league, is it?

Don’t get me wrong, the results we’ve seen from Nimmala in New Hampshire recently have been excellent—though Just Baseball’s Aram Leighton points out that he’s continues to struggle with breaking stuff, having produced just a .575 OPS versus spin—and there are still all kinds of reasons to believe he could be a very good player for a very long time, but consistency has been a challenge and I could certainly see one organization looking at him and—to really dumb it down here—thinking something along the lines of “ah, it’s really starting to click!”, another thinking “looking good lately, but we’ll see how that goes, and we’re probably just not as excited here as we used to be,” and the impetus for a deal existing within that gap. And in the Jays potentially thinking that, if they’re pretty sure they’d choose Parker over Nimmala for the long-term regardless, maybe it’s best to move now while Nimmala’s value is high.

But, again, maybe the Jays just really love Soriano—evidently they’re not the only ones!—or what they think he can become with their help.

Joel Sherman@Joelsherman1

Teams were calling the Angels on Jose Soriano and I have heard that has not stopped as now some are calling the Blue Jays. The trade deadline might get weirder.

6:34 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 191K Views

46 Replies · 114 Reposts · 794 Likes

Realistically, it’s probably some combination of all three things. Which works for me! Though obviously there’s plenty of risk here. If they can’t improve Soriano, if Parker isn’t the guy they think he is, and if Nimmala continues his upward trajectory—all very real possibilities—it could be an ugly one. And, I mean, there’s a reason none of the pitching-starved contenders out there chose to beat what the Jays were offering here.

But… fuck it. Let’s dream big.

Brett Bateman and Ty Southisene

This felt at first like an underwhelming return for Gausman, and given all that he meant to the franchise, it probably still is. But that’s also true given what Bateman and Southisene appear to be at the moment.

Yes, there are tools there—and tools the Jays both especially like and don’t have a lot of. Both players are speedy, spark-plug, grinder types who can steal bases. They’re both on-base machines, at least in the minor leagues. They both have genuine bat-to-ball skills and are difficult to strike out, too. And both players play reasonably strong defence—Bateman’s maybe never going to be an elite centre fielder but he is reportedly more than passable there, and while Southisene is a shortstop he will probably never be an everyday player at that spot. Or anywhere!

Unfortunately, both also have an almost comical lack of raw power. Which is, of course, a bit too on the nose for the Jays.

Still, the Jays as an organization seem to do a good job of building strength in their prospects (Nimmala has certainly been a beneficiary of this), which could help both these guys a little bit in the power department. The Jays also seem to know how to make the most of guys with similar profiles, such as Ernie Clement and Nathan Lukes. Southisene is only 20 and in High-A, so he’s a little farther away, but Bateman could probably step in and play in the big leagues this week if the Jays deal away a Varsho or a Straw. And next season he might be a real option to take Straw’s spot for a league minimum salary, rather than the $6.25 million the Jays would be paying of Straw’s $8 million salary if they exercised his option (the other $1.75 million will be paid by Cleveland). (Though I suppose Jonatan Clase could have a say in that conversation, too.)

Not exactly sexy stuff, but such is the state of the rental market, it seems.

Eddie Micheletti Jr. and Ángel Rivero

Micheletti was an eighth-rounder in 2024, getting an under-slot bonus from the Jays, but one that was still six-figures—i.e. pretty good for a college senior in that part of the draft. He’s 24 now, and hitting well enough at Double-A, but as a left-handed-hitting corner outfield bat, there was just a lot of competition for him to have to hit his way past in the Jays’ system. Maybe eventually he could have done that, but this doesn’t feel like a big loss—and probably puts him in a better place for the sake of his career.

Rivero is a lottery ticket. A 19-year-old right-hander on the small side (listed at 5’11) who only just this season moved from the Dominican Summer League to the Florida Complex League. The Angels will probably be happy enough if he ever becomes a middle reliever for them, and that’s still way up in the air.

A somewhat interesting deal came down while I was working on all that Gausman and Soriano stuff below, which is that the club has sent Adam Macko to the Texas Rangers in exchange for disappointing infielder Josh Smith and a tiny bit of pitching depth.

Smith is having an abysmal season, having produced just a 65 wRC+ in 45 big league games, and managing just a 70 mark during a six-week demotion to the minors. But he was basically a full-time big leaguer in the previous two seasons, producing 1.8 fWAR as an exactly league-average hitter in 2025, and 2.8 fWAR with a 112 wRC+ the year before. And he did so playing all over the diamond—though most of his innings in both seasons came at shortstop.

There’s not a ton of power there, and the defensive metrics haven’t loved him, but—stop me if you’ve heard this one—he can take a walk and is tough to strike out. Plus, he’s optionable, under team control through the end of 2028, and could easily slip into a big league role if, say, Luis Urías gets moved. Or, I suppose, anyone else in the infield mix. (Though, unfortunately, Smith is yet another left-handed hitter.)

Maybe he’s a non-tender candidate this winter, as he’ll be arbitration-eligible and therefore looking at a raise on the $3.225 million he made this year. But if he captures something of that 2024 magic—or even can get back to looking like he did in 2025—could be a useful, versatile piece there.

And in Macko it’s not like they’re giving up much of consequence—and are getting ahead of the fact that the lefty reliever will be out of options next spring. The Jays clearly don’t feel hamstrung too badly by lacking lefties in their ‘pen—as noted in the tweet from Chris Black in the section below.

Stephan, meanwhile, is kind of a maybe-in-an-emergency depth guy with a 5.44 ERA in 21 appearances at Triple-A this season.

4:26 PM: BREAKING! Daulton Varsho has been sent to Houston in exchange for right-hander Spencer Arrighetti. Thoughts to come!

The Varsho era has ended! That probably wouldn’t have felt like such a win a year ago, when he was belting bombs left and right, or in the winter when it felt like he was on a path to have a huge contract year. But enough was enough for a whole lot of Jays fans, who can now officially go back to pining for Gabriel Moreno and what could have been.

I’m not exactly in that camp, but I’m fine with seeing the back of Varsho, who departs the Blue Jays sitting on a 91 wRC+, with no throwing arm, 49th percentile sprint speed (he’s never been a burner, but last year he was in the 77th!), and defensive metrics that have turned against him. The trade-strikeouts-for-power, lean-into-his-strength version of Varsho that last season saw him produce his best ever wRC+ (123) and WAR pace (he was worth 2.2 fWAR in just 71 games) was replaced this year with a much more disciplined hitter who stopped pulling the ball so much, and stopped hitting it in the air so much.

A genuinely insane development that, when coupled with his breakdown as a defender, makes it feel absolutely miraculous that Ross Atkins has turned two month of him into an actual big league starting pitcher who is optionable and won’t reach free agency until after 2030.

Spencer Arrighetti will be coming the other way. In fact, as I’m typing this the pair are apparently switching dugouts, as the Jays are down in Houston tonight for the start of a three-game set.

While this isn’t exactly an exciting young prospect—Arrighetti is a 26-year-old righty with a 4.66 career ERA who, when healthy, was averaging just 92.4 on his fastball this season—he is exactly the kind of guy the Blue Jays would have turned to earlier this season, rather than having to scramble for someone like Patrick Corbin. Next spring he should be in the mix for the fifth starter’s spot, or more ideally could easily land in Buffalo as depth.

Or, if we really want to dream, maybe he finds some of that velo he had back in 2024 (94.2), and... uh... some of the command he still needs, and turns into something even more.

I wouldn’t bet on that outcome, but an interesting change-of-scenery guy who will serve a clear purpose on the Jays’ 40-man for the next couple of seasons, if not the active roster. They didn’t really have that, and since Varsho’s time here was done, this is a pretty easy move to like.

5:02 PM: Now this is what I’m talking about. When the Blue Jays had their 2024 sell-off, they managed to move out enough money to scrape just underneath the luxury tax threshold—and almost certainly cost themselves some prospect-quality in the process.

That’s not a completely unjustifiable tack for them to have taken, because the luxury tax penalties can be quite punitive. But this feel like a much better way to go about things—flex some financial muscle and get better players back in exchange for eating some salary.

Now, the reason we may not see them not be quite so frugal this time around is because it would be pretty impossible for them to get below the base threshold anyway (it’s $244 million this year, and per RosterResource the Jays’ CBT estimate is at $315 million), but I still like this!

Chandler Rome@Chandler_Rome

The Blue Jays are expected to pay some of Daulton Varsho’s remaining salary, a source says.

Chandler Rome @Chandler_Rome

First hit, more to come, and the Astros are still in the market for a starting pitcher - https://t.co/Y2KPArxvZc

8:52 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 3.73K Views

6 Replies · 11 Reposts · 85 Likes

5:18 PM: OK, let’s catch up on a couple other things that have happened while I’ve been busy typing away here.

• One thing we’ve heard is that George Springer is unlikely to go to the Red Sox, which is one of the few places he might have actually been a good fit. Whether that’s George exercising his 10-and-5 rights or what… who cares! I’d be thrilled to watch George for another two months. (Would have been thrilled to watch Gausman, too.)

Julian McWilliams@byJulianMack

George Springer to the Red Sox is unlikely, per source

7:19 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 54K Views

25 Replies · 48 Reposts · 304 Likes

• Meanwhile, this sounds good to me!

Lance Brozdowski@LanceBroz

I’m expecting Jose Soriano’s four-seam usage to drop with Toronto. I’d be surprised if Mike Maddux’s affinity for in-zone four-seamers with underwhelming shape carries over. Good get for Blue Jays.

Jeff Passan @JeffPassan

The Angels will receive top shortstop prospect Arjun Nimmala, outfielder Eddie Micheletti and right-hander Angel Rivero from the Blue Jays for Jose Soriano, sources tell ESPN.

5:15 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 63.7K Views

4 Replies · 14 Reposts · 243 Likes

• And while I know a lot of people aren’t going to be ready to think of this Gausman/Soriano swap like this just yet, it’s really quite a neat little trick they’ve pulled here.

Jonah Birenbaum@birenball

Since the start of 2025… Kevin Gausman: 3.91 ERA, 3.45 FIP, 55 GS José Soriano: 3.85 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 53 GS It’s sad to see Gausman go, of course, but the Blue Jays just landed themselves an equally effective, younger, harder-throwing replacement with two years of control left.

2:18 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 24K Views

7 Replies · 24 Reposts · 384 Likes

• Also, there was so much of this kind of stuff out there last night. Gaus is the man. (I really would love to see him back if he wants to pitch again in 2027.)

Erik Swanson@Erik_Swanson03

Kevin Gausman is an all time teammate! Most people won’t ever understand how much of an impact that guy had on Torontos clubhouse. Will always be cheering for that guy and his family!!

1:45 AM · Aug 3, 2026 · 145K Views

33 Replies · 247 Reposts · 4.29K Likes

• Speaking of, while there have been plenty of barbs around this deadline about there potentially not being a 2027 season because of the upcoming labour war, the powers that be aren’t really going to be that stupid, are they??? COME ON!

• Can I also note how much I’ve been enjoying seeing the prospect-hugging Orioles seemingly waving the white flag today? Adley Rutschman to Boston doesn’t exactly mean that’s what they’re doing—they’ve got Basallo still, after all, and the haul they got back was excellent—but I think there could be a lesson in all this for prospect-huggers who follow other teams, no? Maybe???

• Oh, and did I mention that Spencer Arrighetti has been out lately with a foot injury? Because he has, though he’s expected to be back in action this month. Also, just as I’m typing this I received the Jays’ email blast announcing the trade, and thus making it official. So I guess he passed the medical.

5:31 PM: Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet has spoken to Jeff Hoffman, who says he’s hoping to stay with the Blue Jays.

Ben Nicholson-Smith@bnicholsonsmith

Here in Houston, Jeff Hoffman says as far as he’s aware he’s still a Blue Jay. “Let’s keep it that way,” he said.

9:18 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 5.05K Views

27 Replies · 16 Reposts · 94 Likes

Cue a bunch of people getting really mad at the idea, but I’m with Hoff. Unless it’s for an absolute haul—which could happen, because the industry will absolutely view a reliever with reasonable contract and a Savant page like the one you can see below a hell of a lot more highly than a bunch of superstitious fans desperate to make a villain out of someone—I don’t think you move this guy. I think you simply think rationally and fully expect that, regardless of what’s happened in the past, if you hand the ball today to a guy who can produce strikeouts better than just about anyone on the planet, good things are vastly more likely to happen than not.

But hey, that’s just me.

5:34 PM: Seems like there’s been a fair bit of movement on the catching market today. Not sure an in-season trade is the right time for the Jays to try to cash their chips in on Brandon Valenzuela, but that’s at least an idea. Maybe it’s a moot point because he’s cooled so much lately—and because the Jays have him for so cheap and so long that they can be quite happy with the state of their catchers. But, as ultimately became the case with Gabriel Moreno, it just doesn’t make sense to have multiple starting-calibre catchers when you can only use one at a time. (Slightly different when there are only two here, not three. But still!)

5:41 PM: LOL. And just moments after I finish that spiel about Hoffman, he’s off to the Minnesota Twins. Thoughts incoming! It’d better be a haul! LOL!

Mitch Bannon@MitchBannon

Dasan Hill, John Klein and Dameury Pena is the return, I’m told. #BlueJays

Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal

Twins acquire Jeff Hoffman, source tells @TheAthletic

9:41 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 908 Views

4 Replies · 11 Reposts · 56 Likes

6:00 PM: The deadline has now passed, but that doesn’t mean we’re done hearing about deals just yet. I’m continuing to write up the Hoffman trade but will, of course, keep on posting as things develop—all the way until after Ross Atkins speaks to the media, after which Nick and I will be recording our post-deadline podcast.

6:03 PM: And, of course, just as I finish typing that, here comes Ben again, telling us that the Jays’ day is done, and that Scherzer, Springer, and all the rest are staying put. Interesting deadline to say the least!

Dasan Hill has made 16 starts in High-A this season. He’s a 6’5” left-hander who was taken out of high school in the second round of the 2024 draft, and ranks seventh on the current Twins top prospects list per MLB Pipeline, and was 13th on FanGraphs’ Twins list back in June. “Projectable” is the word you’re going to see used a ton here, because there’s still apparently still a lot of room for him to add muscle to his frame, which the hope will be can allow him to maintain his upper-90s top-end velocity for longer.

“Volatile” is another.

Walks have been a huge issue, and he’s uncorked six wild pitches this year so far, in just 16 starts—matching the number he had last year in 19—but 77 strikeouts in 45 innings is massive, he’s got a starter’s arsenal that should continue to develop, and the Jays—as mentioned before—have a nice track record with helping physical development. And pitching development in general, at least in the last couple of years.

Nick Ashbourne@NickAshbourne

One way for Blue Jays fans to conceptualize incoming pitching prospect Dasan Hill is as the Twins' Johnny King. Both are 20-year-old LHP working in High-A, missing a ton of bats and walking a few too many, starting but not pitching deep into games. Identical FIPs (3.80) at A+.

10:00 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 696 Views

2 Reposts · 8 Likes

If they’re targeting someone, it must be for good reason. And the Jays have, indeed, targeted him, as he’s the headliner coming back from the Twins in exchange for Jeff Hoffman.

Sending a triple-digit-throwing guy with upside to the Blue Jays at the trade deadline? What could ever go wrong for the Twins?

Also heading the Blue Jays’ way is is John Klein, a 24-year-old right-handed reliever who was undrafted out of of Iowa Central Community College, and has already appeared in four big league games this season. Nice story! He’s an optionable guy who has put up bigger and bigger strikeout numbers as the velocity on his deceptive fastball has improved—he’s averaged 94.9 in his 4 1/3 big league innings—but reports say he’s not really found the right secondary out-pitch to go with it. The Jays, presumably, have some ideas. Or maybe just view him as some kind of a warm body.

Peña, a second baseman at High-A, is just 20, and—stop me if you’ve heard this one before—is a great contact hitter who barely has any power. He’s hit just one home run in 384 plate appearances this season. He’s also a small guy, and not exactly heralded defensively. “He’s tracking like a Michael Stefanic type of player,” says FanGraphs. Which... yeah.

So… it looks like this one’s really about Hill—who, at some point I will absolutely call “Dasan Brown,” if I haven’t already.

Which is fine! He’s genuinely a real prospect.

Example: The “volatile” comment I referred to came from a tweet from Thomas Nestico (aka TJ Stats), who in it noted that he had Hill among the top 100 prospects in baseball in his most recent update. Though that maybe isn’t quite as great a piece of news as it sounds on the surface.

The Jays clearly still like him a lot. We’ll see!

Heading to Minnesota, of course, is Hoffman, who clearly isn’t happy to be going.

Hazel Mae@thehazelmae

An emotional Jeff Hoffman on initial reaction to being told he was traded to the Twins: “Sad”

10:19 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 3.09K Views

3 Replies · 19 Reposts · 148 Likes

Keegan Matheson@KeeganMatheson

Jeff Hoffman on what he’ll remember most from his time with the #BlueJays: “Once you play in a place like this… you don’t want to leave. They definitely have a great thing going here. I think all organizations should strive to be like Toronto.”

10:18 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 6.2K Views

9 Replies · 43 Reposts · 316 Likes

The feeling among a ton of Jays fans will, I’m sure, not be mutual. Which… well, that’s the nature of the sport, isn’t it?

It also kinda sucks.

I know I’ll feel bad for Hoffman when the boos from morons inevitably rain down on him in his return, as I already do for the fact that he won’t get a chance to forge a better narrative for his time in this town. He pitched his fuckin’ ass off in those playoffs and, even if you do want to be the kind of malformed clown who desperately needs there to be a person to blame for any inexplicably bad thing that happens so that you don’t have to ever feel too much like we’re just tiny specks spinning on a rock in an infinite Godless cosmos with no real order and where nothing means anything, there are a bunch of guys and a bunch of moments that would easily fit that same bill you big fuckin’ crybaby.

Anyway!

Even though you won’t have to scroll very far to find me suggesting that I’d have preferred it if Hoffman was sticking around, I do get this one. A team in the Blue Jays’ position doesn’t really have much of a need for high-end relievers, and with the money that will come off the books—the Twins will take on all of Hoffman’s remaining 2026 salary, though the Jays will pay some of his salary next year—it shouldn’t be difficult to find a worthwhile replacement who might actually not bizarrely implode about 70% more often than makes the slightest bit of sense. Maybe even one that didn’t fail a couple of other teams’ medicals before accepting your offer, too.

Throw some more international bonus pool money on the pile and… I don’t know… sure! Why not? GIVE ME SPENCER MILES IN EVEN HIGHER LEVERAGE!

7:02 PM: Not sure I even mentioned Jameson Taillon once during this deadline. A good Canadian kid! The Jays picked him up for a PBTNL on Sunday, theoretically to help for some of the pitching departures the Jays potentially expected. He’ll still be useful as Spencer Arrighetti is not ready to return to action yet, and Spencer Miles is moving even deeper into innings-management mode, and might end up in the one-inning mix and helping to fill the hole left by Hoffman’s departure.

Lazaro Estrada is also up, as is Josh Smith, who has already joined the team in Houston. John Klein has been optioned to Buffalo.

For those keeping score at home, Taillon and Estrada will take the roster spots vacated by Gausman and Hoffman. Estrada will likely head back to Buffalo once Soriano joins. Smith takes over Varsho’s spot for the time being, and we’ll see where that goes. Myles Straw is, according to John Schneider, expected to get Varsho’s centre field innings for now.

Tonight’s starting lineup against the Astros looks awfully familiar.

Toronto Blue Jays@BlueJays

Hello, Houston 👋 #BlueJays50

10:39 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 32.6K Views

49 Replies · 88 Reposts · 865 Likes

Oh, and Gausman may make his Cubs debut on Thursday… against the Blue Jays.

7:54 PM: We’re starting to see some comments from Ross Atkins roll in, as he’s speaking to reporters down in Houston. Nothing unexpected so far.

On George Springer he says, “It was important for him to be here. We wanted him here as we continue to push forward.”

On Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber he says, “We felt that, because we have so much support here, it wasn’t necessary that we trade them.”

He also, according to Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling, “mentioned their benefit to Blue Jays continuing to compete in 2026 and their impact on players around them.”

And his overall statement on the status of the team and what just happened was this:

Ben Nicholson-Smith@bnicholsonsmith

Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins on where the team is at: "For me myself, the biggest emotion is letting down our fans and letting down the clubhouse."

11:14 PM · Aug 3, 2026 · 10.1K Views

19 Replies · 20 Reposts · 287 Likes

I mean… that’s what you say, isn’t it?

Left unsaid here is the fact that George has 10-and-5 rights and Max has a full no-trade clause in his contract. Obviously I have no idea if the idea of waiving those had been broached, if the packages that were being offered for those guys were so minimal that there was no reason to, or if the players had made it clear enough that they wouldn’t waive them, but given that they moved Kevin Gausman—who the exact same things would have been said about if he’d stayed—I kind of have to believe that they’d have moved those guys too if they could have for more than a sack of nickels.

Bieber sticking around when they could have dealt him is therefore kind of interesting. But with him I suppose there’s a chance he stays healthy enough, and pitches well enough, over the next two months to set himself up well in free agency, which might put the qualifying offer into play. Bieber’s never been subjected to a QO, and by keeping him here the Jays do still have that as an option.

But it must be said that it seems pretty far fetched that this would actually be a factor. Low-90s, over-30, post-injury right-handed starting pitchers just don’t command much on the free agent market these days. Or, at least, not QO-level money. I mean, Bieber himself took $16 million to stay in Toronto last winter, rather than a $4 million buyout that would have allowed him to test the market. That tells us a lot.

So… probably just not a lot of interest, and/or the lottery tickets being offered had no better shot of paying off than the idea of holding him and maybe having him turn into a draft pick via a rejected QO. Plus, there’s some value in not completely tearing the thing down to the studs—both in the room, as we learned from the not-great reception the 2024 sell-off received, and among fans.

Just go on a run, boys!

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