Daulton Varsho’s time in Toronto has ended, and it leaves the Blue Jays with the same messy question that hung over the trade from the start: what exactly did they get out of it?
On December 23rd, 2022, general manager Ross Atkins sent Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Varsho, a move that immediately set off plenty of criticism from fans and pundits. At the time, Toronto was dealing from strength at catcher to shore up the outfield defensively and add some pop to the lineup. That was the idea, anyway.
The defence part was never really in doubt. Varsho gave the Blue Jays exactly what they wanted on that side of the ball, turning into a regular highlight machine and making difficult plays look routine.
The bat, though, was another story. He was below average offensively in 2023 and 2024, then flashed in a small sample last year before settling back into his career norms this season, when his OPS+ slipped below 100 and the power was modest.
After a recent trade that sent him to the Houston Astros and brought pitcher Spencer Arrighetti back to Toronto, Varsho’s Blue Jays run is over. Moreno and Gurriel Jr. are still in Arizona, which only sharpens the debate over who came out ahead.
Moreno is the headliner now. He’s in the middle of a career year after a stretch of injury-plagued seasons, and he’s been strong offensively and defensively for the Diamondbacks. Gurriel Jr., on the other hand, has barely played in 2026 because of multiple injuries.
That’s where the trade gets tricky. Arizona got the most talented player in Moreno, no question.
But if Toronto had won the 2025 World Series, the conversation would look very different. Varsho didn’t come through in several important spots during that run, but a championship would have changed the memory of it all in a hurry.
Instead, his legacy in Toronto sits in that awkward middle ground. He gave the Jays plenty of jaw-dropping catches and enough hope to keep the story alive, but never quite became the complete player they imagined when they made the deal.
The final image is hard to shake: if Isiah Kiner-Falefa had taken a bigger lead off third base in the bottom of the ninth inning of World Series Game 7, Varsho could have been remembered as the man who finished the job. He just needed to lift the ball or sneak something through the infield, and he didn’t.
That’s the thing with Varsho in Toronto. It was always close, always almost, always one more step from becoming the version the Blue Jays wanted. Now that he’s gone, the trade still feels exactly like it did when it was made: complicated.
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