Gabriel Moreno’s rise to the top of the National League batting race has done more than add another line to his résumé. It has thrown a spotlight right back on one of the Blue Jays’ most debated moves from the Daulton Varsho trade, and the reflection is not flattering.
Moreno, the former Toronto top prospect now catching for the Arizona Diamondbacks, finished the 2026 MLB regular season with a .311 average to win the NL batting title. Philadelphia Phillies infielder Luis Arraez was right there behind him at .310.
That made Moreno the first player in Diamondbacks history to win a batting crown, and just the fifth catcher ever to do it. Across the majors, only Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez posted a higher average among qualified hitters.
Batting average doesn’t carry the same weight it once did, but winning a league title in the category still matters. And for Blue Jays fans, Moreno’s breakthrough naturally brings the old trade debate back into focus.
This isn’t really about Toronto choosing Alejandro Kirk over Moreno. Kirk has become an excellent catcher and remains an important, popular piece of the roster. The harder part to stomach is watching Moreno develop into one of baseball’s best catchers after the Blue Jays sent him, along with Lourdes Gurriel Jr., to Arizona for Varsho.
That move made sense at the time. Toronto had depth behind the plate with Kirk already established and Danny Jansen in place, while Moreno was viewed as one of the game’s top prospects.
Turning a catcher into help elsewhere was logical. Varsho also fit the Blue Jays’ priorities then: stronger outfield defense and some added power.
He had just hit 27 home runs for Arizona and brought elite work in center field.
And to be clear, Varsho was not a bust in Toronto. He won a Gold Glove and helped the Blue Jays reach the 2025 World Series.
That matters. But it’s also fair to say the return never matched the size of the investment.
Since the original deal, Varsho has produced 12.0 bWAR. Moreno has already gone past that mark on his own, and his 2026 batting-title season added another 6.7 bWAR. Gurriel, meanwhile, added more value in Arizona and was an All-Star during the Diamondbacks’ run to the 2023 World Series before being DFA'd this season.
The chain of moves got even harder to ignore when Varsho was traded to Houston at the 2026 deadline for Spencer Arrighetti. In effect, Toronto turned Moreno and Gurriel into four years of Varsho and whatever Arrighetti becomes in a Blue Jays uniform.
So far, Arrighetti has not offered much relief. In seven games, including two starts, he has a 6.35 ERA and 6.85 FIP over 22.2 innings.
The larger frustration comes when that trade is placed next to the rest of Toronto’s 2022-23 offseason. The Blue Jays also moved Teoscar Hernández, signed Kevin Kiermaier and added Brandon Belt.
Kiermaier gave them elite defense, and Belt helped cover the offense lost with Hernández gone. Put together, those moves make the Varsho acquisition feel a little redundant in hindsight.
Toronto could have kept Hernández’s right-handed power, signed Kiermaier for center field, and held onto Moreno as the centerpiece of another deal. The club also could have explored using Moreno in different spots while still getting him regular DH at-bats.
Instead, the Blue Jays used their best prospect capital on a player whose best trait overlapped with another offseason addition.
There were other areas that looked like more urgent upgrades anyway. Whit Merrifield, Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal were sharing second-base duties, while George Springer was still the everyday right fielder.
A premium infielder or a more complete middle-of-the-order bat would have fit the roster’s longer-term needs better. Arizona, of course, had a player who fit that description in Ketel Marte.
No one is saying the Diamondbacks would have dealt him, but he’s the kind of target Toronto should have been chasing with a package built around Moreno and Gurriel. And while hindsight always sharpens the picture, the production lines up in a way that makes the comparison hard to ignore. Since the start of the 2023 season, Marte has been worth 18.5 bWAR, while Moreno and Gurriel Jr. have combined for 19.8.
Moreno winning the batting title does not mean Toronto was wrong to stick with Kirk. Teams have to make decisions, and carrying two young catchers of that quality was never the only path.
But the Blue Jays did turn two major assets into four seasons of Varsho and, eventually, Arrighetti. That might still age better with time.
Right now, though, it’s tough to argue they got the most out of what they had.
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