The Blue Jays may have walked away from their deal with the Marlins looking better than they did on paper at the time.
Toronto moved former top prospect Leo Jiménez to Miami earlier this year, sending him out in exchange for infielder Dub Gleed and international bonus money. It was the kind of transaction that looked like a cleanup move after Jiménez was out of minor league options and didn’t crack the Blue Jays’ Opening Day roster. Toronto designated him for assignment before the start of the 2026 season, then found a trade partner and got something back.
That return is aging just fine.
Gleed has quietly put together a strong 2026 season across Vancouver and New Hampshire, hitting .278 with an .845 OPS in 108 games. He’s added 60 runs scored, 23 doubles, 19 home runs and 60 RBIs, giving Toronto a prospect haul that’s looked increasingly useful as the year has gone on.
Jiménez’s side of the ledger hasn’t held up nearly as well. The 25-year-old spent most of the year as a bench option for Miami, but the bat never came around.
In 66 games with the Marlins, he hit .199 with a .565 OPS, along with 18 runs scored, two home runs and 14 RBIs. He did bounce around the infield and show his ability to handle multiple spots, but the offense never matched the versatility.
The Marlins cut bait this past Thursday, designating Jiménez for assignment before releasing him on Saturday.
That’s a rough turn for a player who once carried real prospect buzz in the Blue Jays system. Jiménez broke out in the minors in 2023, when he hit .270 with a .766 OPS, scored 62 runs, and chipped in 18 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 47 RBIs and eight stolen bases in 94 games. He made his MLB debut with Toronto in 2024, but the production never followed him to the majors.
Across two seasons with the Blue Jays, Jiménez managed a .207 average and a .635 OPS with five home runs and 20 RBIs in 81 total games. Even a modest 2026 spring training showing wasn’t enough to keep him in the mix, and that led to the end of his time in Toronto.
Now Jiménez is back on the market and looking for another chance to restart his career before the season ends. For the moment, though, the Blue Jays are the ones with the trade that looks a lot better than expected.
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For a former Blue Jays coach now linked to the mess, the bigger issue is what happens next inside the organization. Rival executives and scouts are already floating the possibility of change, with Torey Lovullos contract set to expire after the 2026 season and the clubs repeated trouble managing Martes absences leaving plenty of room for an offseason reset if things do not calm down. [Read more 🡒]
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Brett Bateman Is Creating A Blue Jays Debate They Can't Ignore
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The appeal is not coming from one loud tool or a sudden power surge. Bateman is helping Toronto through the full package, with defense and baserunning doing plenty of the heavy lifting even without a home run to his name. For a club trying to sort out where he fits once the sample gets bigger, the question is not whether he has mattered so far. It is how long the Blue Jays can keep treating this as a nice story before it becomes an unavoidable roster conversation. [Read more 🡒]