The Blue Jays are heading into this trade deadline with one eye on 2026 and beyond, and that means the conversation is about more than just who they might add. Toronto can sell, and it likely will, but the harder part is figuring out whether it can unload some money that no longer looks especially useful.
That’s the bind here: the Blue Jays have several contracts they’d love to move, but finding a team willing to take them on may be the real obstacle. Andrés Giménez, Yariel Rodriguez and José Berrios all fit that category in different ways, and at this point Toronto would probably welcome a clean exit from all three deals if the market cooperated.
Giménez is the clearest example of a player whose value has not matched the price tag. Toronto acquired him before the 2025 season knowing he was under contract for five seasons and owed $104-million. The Blue Jays installed him as their everyday second baseman in 2025, and he also deserves credit for shifting to shortstop down the stretch after Bo Bichette’s injury.
But the bat has not kept pace with the contract. Over the last two seasons, Giménez has hit .216 with a .606 OPS and a .247 BABIP, and his 70 wRC+ ranks 58th among qualified shortstops.
His defense has still been excellent - he owns the fifth highest fWAR over that same span at 20.1 - but when the rest of the lineup is also struggling, the offensive production stands out for all the wrong reasons. He’s due to make $23-million per season from 2027 through 2029.
Rodriguez is a different kind of problem. Toronto signed him to a five-year, $32-million deal in February of 2024, and the results have been uneven enough that he’s bounced between the majors and minors all season. In 97 big league games, including 22 starts, he has a 4.05 ERA with 157 strikeouts in 169 innings pitched.
There have been flashes, though. Rodriguez has posted a 2.87 ERA and 2.72 FIP with Triple-A Buffalo this year, striking out 26 in 15.2 innings over 13 games.
That kind of line could still catch another club’s eye. The issue for Toronto is that he’s owed $6.4 million each season over the next two years, and that’s a lot to pay for a pitcher who has spent more time in Triple-A than in the majors.
It’s not impossible to move, but it isn’t simple either.
Berrios is the toughest sell of all, and in a very different way. He is set to make $24-million next season and the season after, once he takes the player option in his contract. But he underwent Tommy John surgery in May of 2026, which will keep him out for much of the 2027 season, so moving him at this deadline is not happening.
That salary is steep even before you factor in the injury. In 2026, only six pitchers are making more: Framber Valdez, Tarik Skubal, Dylan Cease, Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez and Michael King.
Another five are at $20-million or more, including Seth Lugo, Zac Gallen, Shota Imanaga, Brandon Woodruff and Merrill Kelly. For Toronto, that’s a lot of money to be tied up in a rotation that already has uncertainty ahead.
Could the Blue Jays get creative? Maybe, but not with Berrios right now. The better comparison is a move like the one they made when they acquired Shane Bieber at the 2025 deadline, selling Berrios while he rehabs - but that would have to wait until next season at the earliest.
Giménez and Rodriguez are the more realistic candidates if Toronto is willing to sweeten the pot with a prospect. A club like the Chicago White Sox or the Atlanta Braves could look at Giménez and see enough defensive value to take a shot.
The White Sox have used Colson Montgomery and Luisangel Acuña at short, while the Braves have deployed Jorge Mateo and Mauricio Dubón. Giménez’s defensive fWAR currently sits at 11.0.
Rodriguez could draw interest too, because pitching always gets attention at the deadline and a desperate team might be willing to gamble if Toronto helps the deal along. But for now, the Blue Jays look stuck with these contracts, even if they’d love nothing more than to clear the books.
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Kevin Gausman is one of the names drawing attention, and the appeal is obvious from Philadelphias side. He has the kind of postseason background that teams covet in July, and Torontos place in the standings suggests the Blue Jays could eventually be in a position to listen. For a contender trying to line up its October pitching before the market gets crowded, that sort of arm is exactly the type that can change the conversation. [Read more 🡒]