The Blue Jays are staring at a deadline they probably never wanted to face. A year after falling just a few inches short of a championship, Toronto sits in last place in the AL East and has slid to a season-worst nine games under .500 after dropping six of its first eight games coming out of the All-Star Break. At 46-55, with FanGraphs giving them just 8.6% playoff odds, a sell-off looks unavoidable.
That puts Kevin Gausman right in the middle of the conversation. Toronto has eight impending free agents, and several of them are on sizable contracts, but the rotation is where the most obvious trade value sits. Gausman and Shane Bieber stand out as the club’s best chips, and both could draw interest from teams hunting for a starter who can help in October.
Gausman’s deal is the kind of contract that can shape a front office’s thinking. He’s making $23 million in the final season of the five-year, $110 million agreement he signed in free agency, and it has been one of the stronger pitching investments of the last several years.
In Toronto, the veteran right-hander has delivered a 3.62 ERA across 849 1/3 innings, earned a pair of top 10 Cy Young finishes, and stayed on the field without missing time to injury. He also posted an ERA under 4.00 in each of the first four seasons of the contract.
This year, though, the numbers have been shakier as the August 3 deadline nears. Gausman’s 4.51 ERA through 21 starts is his highest in seven years.
He was still rolling through the end of May, carrying a 3.13 ERA with a 24% strikeout rate across his first 12 starts, but the last stretch has been rougher. Over his most recent nine outings, he’s given up 6.56 earned runs per nine while his walk rate has climbed and a few outings have gone sideways.
Even with that uneven run, the underlying appeal remains obvious. His stuff hasn’t taken a dramatic hit, and the swing-and-miss profile is still there.
That combination of durability, résumé and raw ability should keep him near the top of the market for available starters, with the Braves, Cubs and Phillies mentioned as possible suitors. He’s due about $6.7 million from the deadline through the end of the season, and because he already received a qualifying offer earlier in his career, Toronto would only be able to get compensation for him by moving him in a trade.
Gausman himself left open the possibility that last night’s outing could be his final home start at Rogers Centre, even while saying his focus remains on trying to help the Blue Jays get back on track.
In Other News...
Blue Jays Fans Are Saying Goodbye To A Rogers Centre Tradition
For 17 seasons, fans arriving at Rogers Centre could count on hearing Tessi Perrier, better known as Saxy Sady, setting the tone outside the ballpark on Blue Jays home dates. Her saxophone became part of the game-day scene in Toronto, a familiar pregame soundtrack for supporters who made the trip downtown and a small but steady piece of the clubs identity around the stadium.
Perrier has now stepped away from that role after a final performance following a Blue Jays win, closing the book on a run that stretched across generations of home games. Her retirement comes not long after another longtime gameday fixture, Rockin' Rick Donaldson, also moved on, leaving a noticeable gap in the unofficial cast that has long helped give Blue Jays nights around the Rogers Centre their own character. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Fans Turned Fenway Into Absolute Chaos Against Toronto
Fenway Park turned into a scene during Bostons game against the Blue Jays, with Red Sox fans joining the tarps off movement and ripping off their shirts to wave them in the stands. What started as a college football celebration and later caught on in MLB with Cardinals fans has become one of those crowd rituals that can tilt a ballparks mood, and Bostons version had the kind of energy that made the game feel bigger than a single night on the schedule.
The shirt-waving did not stay tucked into one corner of the stadium, either, as it spread across the park and gave the place a full-throated, almost chaotic look from the Toronto side of things. St. Louis has already leaned into the trend with a dedicated high-energy section at Busch Stadium, and Fenways latest burst of it is another reminder that the Blue Jays can run into a road environment where the crowd is as much a storyline as the baseball. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Give Buck Martinez The Honor He Deserves
Buck Martinez is getting another fitting chapter in a Blue Jays story that already spans generations. The club will induct him into its newly renamed Hall of Excellence next August, and the honor comes with a special bobblehead that nods to the many ways he has shaped the franchise, from behind the plate to the dugout to the broadcast booth. After retiring in February following Torontos 2025 World Series run, Martinez will join a select group as the 12th member of the Hall.
For Blue Jays fans, the tribute feels especially right because Martinez has never been just one thing to this organization. He was a player, a manager and, for years, one of the most familiar voices around the team, which is why the club chose to capture all of those eras in one keepsake. The celebration will add another layer to a career already woven deeply into the franchises identity, even as the full scope of the days recognition is still to come. [Read more 🡒]