The Blue Jays may not be in a position to start shopping their best prospects at the trade deadline unless the return is an MLB-ready player with multiple years of team control. That wasn’t the expectation at this point in the season, but injuries and poor performances from key players changed the picture fast.
Even so, Toronto still has reasons to look ahead. The club should have plenty of pieces in place to contend next year, and the only players on expiring contracts this season are Kevin Gausman, George Springer, Shane Bieber, and Daulton Varsho. Beyond that, the organization has a handful of prospects who could be pushing for a big league job by the time the 2027 Opening Day roster is set.
Sean Keys is one of the names to keep in mind, even if his first big league look didn’t stick. The 1B/3B was called up on June 27, then sent back to Triple-A Buffalo on July 23 after less than a month in the majors.
His minor league numbers had been loud - .278/.405/.597 with 21 home runs, 55 runs, 55 RBIs, and a 1.002 OPS over 301 combined plate appearances in Double- and Triple-A - but that production didn’t carry over. In 37 plate appearances with Toronto, he hit .167/.189/.278 with one homer, five runs, and five RBIs.
His strikeout rate sat at 35.1 percent, and his walk rate was just 2.7 percent. Playing time was part of the problem too, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kazuma Okamoto holding down the corner infield spots and Springer in the DH mix.
If Springer isn’t traded, it’s also unlikely he re-signs, but Brandon Valenzuela has emerged as a threat at DH, which makes Keys’ path even tougher.
Charles McAdoo got his chance too, and he ran into a similar wall. The 1B/2B was promoted on May 28 as a depth move after Lenyn Sosa went on the 10-day injured list.
Before the call-up, McAdoo was hitting .250/.357/.432 with eight home runs and 25 RBIs, while also showing strong strike-zone judgment with 29 walks. But in the majors, he couldn’t get into a rhythm.
He bounced between first base, where he filled in for Vladdy, and second base, where he covered for Ernie Clement, and finished with a .160/.160/.280 line over 25 plate appearances. He did homer in his debut, but he still doesn’t have a clear route back unless injuries open the door.
September may be his next shot.
Ricky Tiedemann’s story is more about health than opportunity. The left-hander missed all of 2025 after Tommy John surgery in July of the 2024 campaign.
He was moving forward this season and made his 2026 debut on June 16, but after one more rehab start he felt discomfort in his neck and shoulder, got injections, and spent another month sidelined. He’s back on the mound now, having made a rehab start in Single-A Dunedin on July 25.
He worked one inning, faced four batters, and struck out two. Given the Blue Jays’ early rotation injuries, Tiedemann likely would have already been in the majors if he had stayed healthy.
Toronto will handle him carefully, but if Gausman and/or Bieber are traded, he could get his MLB debut once he’s fully healthy and stretched out.
Nolan Perry is on a similar track. The right-hander was excellent in 2024, putting up a 2.93 ERA over 46 innings at Single-A before a UCL injury in August led to Tommy John surgery and wiped out his 2025 season.
He’s back now and pitching well across three minor league levels, with a 2.41 ERA in 56 combined innings at Single-, High-, and Double-A. His 13.66 strikeouts per nine innings have him moving quickly.
Perry could follow the Trey Yesavage route and reach the majors late in September, though the Blue Jays will probably want him to get Triple-A experience first. Even so, he’s a name that could come up often in spring training, with a real chance to compete for a spot.
Jay Harry is the wild card in the group. The utility man came to Toronto in the 2024 trade that sent Trevor Rogers to the Minnesota Twins.
He flashed early in 2023, hitting .339/.434/.468 over 129 plate appearances in Rookie ball and Single-A, but his numbers dipped badly after that. In 2024, across High-A for both organizations, he hit .213/.295/.367 with 12 home runs over 448 plate appearances, and 2025 was even worse.
This year, though, something has clicked. Harry is batting .316/.360/.559 with 13 home runs and has reached Triple-A, while trimming his strikeout rate to 18 percent.
His value also comes from the glove: he can play both middle infield spots and all three outfield positions, exactly the kind of versatility Toronto likes. He’s still raw, and those two down seasons mean he needs more time at the highest minor league level, but if the bat and defense keep holding up, a September call-up isn’t out of the question.
That would put him on the inside track for a look at the 2027 Opening Day roster.
In Other News...
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The Angels took Manoah on as a reclamation project, hoping a change of scenery could help him rediscover something close to his old form. Instead, his Triple-A work unraveled badly, and his brief major league run this season never got traction either. For a pitcher who finished third in Cy Young voting in 2022, the question is no longer whether the talent was real, but whether there is enough left to make another turn worthwhile. [Read more 🡒]
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The immediate expectation is that Guerrero sits out the following day, but the bigger question is how much even a nagging leg issue can affect his swing and overall production once he returns. For Toronto, this is less about one missed game than about whether a compromised Guerrero can keep driving the offense the way the club needs, or whether the injury starts to chip away at the mechanics that make him so important in the first place. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Suddenly Hold The Key To A Yankees Deadline Dilemma
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The bigger question for Toronto is how aggressive it wants to be with its own inventory. The Blue Jays have younger pieces they would probably prefer to keep, even if they are open to moving some veterans, which creates the kind of tension that often defines deadline talks. If New York keeps circling Toronto, the Jays may find themselves weighing not just what they can get back, but which outfield names they are willing to make available at all. [Read more 🡒]