Ross Atkins made the blueprint plain at his year-end availability last week: the Blue Jays need more balls leaving the yard, more walks and more traffic on the bases. That’s the wish list. The problem is that Toronto just missed the playoffs in 2026, and this version of the roster can’t simply be trusted to grow into those traits on its own.
That’s where the trade market comes in. Atkins has never been afraid to use it, and if the Blue Jays want to reshape the club for 2027, three names stand out as real win-now swings: Jeremy Peña, CJ Abrams and a Seattle package built around Logan Gilbert and Brendan Donovan.
Peña might be the cleanest fit. Houston is staring at an offseason with salary pressure, a new general manager on the horizon and a possible infield crowd once Carlos Correa is back from his ankle injury. With Correa, Isaac Paredes, Jose Altuve, Christian Walker and Peña all in the mix, the Astros may have to move somebody.
For Toronto, Peña would bring the kind of lineup and defensive flexibility the club lacked this season. He could handle shortstop and let Andrés Giménez slide back to second, or he could take over at the keystone himself and give the Blue Jays a more complete everyday option than Ernie Clement. That would push Clement back into the utility role where he fits best.
There’s also the contract angle. Peña is projected to make about $13 million in his final arbitration year, which gives Toronto a chance to run him out there for a season, talk extension if he clicks, or let JoJo Parker keep moving through the minors and see whether he’s ready for 2028. Peña’s 22 home runs would have ranked second on the team, and his .802 OPS would have led all qualified Blue Jays hitters.
A deal for Peña could be built around infielder Josh Kasevich, right-hander Gage Stanifer and outfielder Yohendrick Piñango, a package that might appeal to a Houston team looking for inexpensive, controllable talent.
If Toronto wants a bigger swing and a longer runway, CJ Abrams is the louder play. The Nationals already listened at the deadline, and Abrams has been identified as one of the offseason’s top trade candidates. He’s a two-time All-Star, doesn’t hit free agency until after the 2029 season and is projected to make about $10.2 million through arbitration this year.
Abrams would give the Blue Jays exactly what they were missing in 2026: power and speed. Since 2022, he has hit 92 homers, posted an .834 OPS and produced 3.7 fWAR in 2026.
He ranked in the 92nd percentile in batting value and the 79th percentile in speed, while Toronto finished 25th in sprint speed as a team. The downside is real too - 158 strikeouts and too many chases - but the package of skills is obvious.
He was basically a faster version of Kazuma Okamoto.
The price would be steep. Washington has high-end infield prospects coming, which gives it room to deal, but Toronto would still have to come strong.
A proposal featuring one of their young pitchers in Nolan Perry and Daniel Guerra, along with outfielder RJ Schreck and utility prospect Jay Harry, would send Washington at least three of Toronto’s top 30 prospects, and even that might not be enough. The Padres’ Juan Soto deal is the benchmark here.
Abrams isn’t Soto and he’s three years older than Soto was, but the Nationals would still be hunting for a haul.
Even with that kind of hit to the farm system, Toronto would still have a promising pitching group that includes Johnny King, Cole Carlon, Dasan Hill, Ricky Tiedemann, Danny Thompson Jr. and Javen Coleman. For a 26-year-old bat with three years of control, that’s the sort of aggressive move the Blue Jays would need to seriously weigh.
The most ambitious option might be the one that reaches across the league to Seattle. Toronto and the Mariners were the last American League teams standing in 2025, and both missed the postseason in 2026. That makes this a logical place for two clubs to retool instead of tear things down.
Logan Gilbert would stabilize the rotation right away. He’s one year from free agency and doesn’t look close to an extension with Seattle.
His 3.71 ERA was his highest since 2023, but he still made 28 starts and ranked seventh in the American League with 165 innings. Put him behind Dylan Cease and José Soriano, with Trey Yesavage in the mix, and the Blue Jays’ rotation floor changes fast.
Brendan Donovan would solve another problem at the same time. His 2026 season was wrecked by sports hernia surgery, recurring groin trouble and a concussion, but his track record when healthy is still plenty attractive.
He owns a .282/.362/.411 career line, a 120 wRC+, a 13.6 per cent strikeout rate and 11.0 fWAR. Against right-handed pitching, he has hit .295/.377/.443 for his career, which makes him a natural complement to the right-handed Clement.
Seattle would want young, affordable upside back, and Sean Keys could fit that description. He hit 28 home runs with a 1.019 OPS in the minors, which may be enough to get the Mariners interested. The fit isn’t perfect - Seattle already has Josh Naylor at first base and a group of designated-hitters/outfielders that includes Dominic Canzone, Luke Raly, Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo - but Keys could also be part of a broader package that includes names like Piñango, Kasevich and Stanifer.
None of these paths is simple. All three would cost prospect capital and carry different levels of risk. But if the Blue Jays are serious about getting back to October in 2027, they’re going to have to spend some of that depth to buy the upgrades they need.
In Other News...
Blue Jays Mourn A Voice Who Helped Shape Franchise History
Larry Millson, whose name was woven into Blue Jays coverage for more than three decades, has died, the team announced Oct. 7. A longtime Toronto writer and recipient of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fames Jack Graney Award, Millson became one of the most respected voices in baseball journalism, filing stories for numerous outlets while helping chronicle the franchises rise and its place in the Canadian game.
The Blue Jays responded with condolences for his family and a tribute that reflected just how deeply he was connected to the organizations history. For readers who followed the team year after year, Millson was part of the steady backdrop of the sport in this country, one of those reporters whose work outlived the days score and helped shape the way Canadian baseball was covered. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Youth Movement Just Changed Toronto's Offseason Pressure
Brett Batemans quick adjustment after arriving at the trade deadline gave the Blue Jays a real jolt, and his mix of contact at the plate and steady work in the field helped push him into the conversation for a longer look. Charles McAdoo followed a similar path, making the kind of in-season adjustments that can turn a depth piece into a useful utility option, while Spencer Miles emerged as one of the bigger bright spots on the pitching side with the kind of rookie season Toronto can build around.
The bigger picture for Toronto is that the youth movement is no longer just a talking point, it is starting to shape how the roster gets built. Sean Keys and Piango still look like players who need more seasoning before they can be counted on every day, which leaves the Blue Jays with some real decisions to make about how much pressure to place on the kids and how aggressively to chase outside help this winter. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Offseason Plan Could Force A Tough Ernie Clement Decision
Ernie Clement has become one of the more appealing pieces on the Blue Jays roster because he can handle so many jobs and has a style fans have come to appreciate. His value has grown not just from versatility, but from the simple fact that Toronto can use him in a lot of different ways, which is part of why any offseason roster planning around him gets complicated fast.
The complication comes if the Blue Jays follow through on a bigger infield-and-outfield shuffle and add players such as Seiya Suzuki and Brandon Lowe. In that kind of setup, Clement could still matter, but his role would likely shrink into more of a utility lane than the everyday run he has carved out, leaving Toronto with a familiar front-office question: how much do you preserve a player like Clement when the pursuit of higher-end talent starts changing the shape of the lineup? [Read more 🡒]