The Phillies need a jolt before the trade deadline, and one potential target checks a lot of boxes: Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman.
Philadelphia’s rotation is in rough shape, and the club’s recent slide has only sharpened the urgency. After dropping all four second-half series against the Mets, Dodgers, Yankees and Marlins, the Phillies are 3-9 in that stretch. With the pressure building around an aging core, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is staring at another deadline where he’ll be expected to pull off something big.
Gausman fits the profile of a pitcher who could move, and the Phillies wouldn’t have to worry about a no-trade obstacle. According to Mitch Bannon of The Athletic, Gausman’s eight-team no-trade list does not include Philadelphia. The teams on that list are the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Pirates, Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Athletics, Chicago White Sox and Seattle Mariners.
Toronto is also believed to be looking to trim payroll before the deadline, which could make Gausman available. That creates a natural opening for the Phillies, who could use the Blue Jays as a trade partner.
There’s also some built-in familiarity that could help. Interim manager Don Mattingly spent the previous three seasons with Toronto before joining Philadelphia for the 2026 campaign, so he knows the clubhouse and the players well.
Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham also has a past connection with Gausman. Cotham helped him develop the fastball/splitter combination when he was with the Reds, a pitch mix that has fueled Gausman’s success in recent years.
Philadelphia and Toronto haven’t exactly been frequent trade partners during Ross Atkins’ tenure, but that could change quickly. The Blue Jays have other names that could draw interest too, including relief pitcher Jeff Hoffman and outfielder Daulton Varsho.
Gausman’s season numbers are solid but not dominant. He has a 4.51 ERA in 22 starts and 121.2 innings, with 123 strikeouts. Even so, his underlying metrics still point to quality stuff: a Pitching Run Value of +6, which sits in the 67th percentile, and a Fastball Run Value of +13, an elite mark in the 96th percentile.
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That matters because the Angels still have several players who fit the profile Toronto tends to chase: pitchers and position players who are producing now and can remain in place for more than a rental stretch. Jos Soriano, Reid Detmers and Zach Neto all fit that mold, which is exactly why the Blue Jays will keep an eye on Anaheim as the deadline approaches and the asking price starts to crystallize. [Read more 🡒]