Toronto Blue Jays make four trades on MLB deadline day
The Toronto Blue Jays had a busy MLB Trade Deadline day.
It hasn’t been the season that anybody was hoping for the Blue Jays, who find themselves outside of a playoff spot as deadline day got underway. With their postseason hopes fading, the expectation was that the Jays would enter the trade deadline as sellers, hoping to move on from veteran players on expiring contracts.
Toronto got a big bit of business done on Sunday, dealing veteran pitcher Kevin Gausman to the Chicago Cubs, but things went a bit differently than expected on Monday. As the deadline approached, the Blue Jays emerged as both sellers and buyers throughout the day.
GM Ross Atkins managed to swing a total of four trades on deadline day, but they may not have been the kind of deals you’d expect from a Jays team sitting outside the playoffs.
Here is a recap of how the trade deadline unravelled for the Blue Jays…
Blue Jays make a splash with Angels
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The Blue Jays wasted no time making headlines.
Instead of starting the day selling, Toronto made a massive trade with the LA Angels to acquire pitcher JosƩ Soriano in exchange for top prospect Arjun Nimmala and minor leaguers Eddie Micheletti and Angel Rivero.
The 28-year-old Soriano is having himself a very good season with a 3.29 ERA, 127 strikeouts, and allowing just 12 home runs in 123 innings of work. Importantly, Soriano is under team control through the 2028 season.
He will join a Blue Jays rotation that is set to feature himself, Dylan Cease, Trey Yesavage, and Cody Ponce next year.
Toronto snags two players from Rangers
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The Blue Jays followed up the Soriano deal by swinging a trade with the Texas Rangers.
Relief pitcher Adam Macko was shipped off to the Lone Star State, while the Blue Jays acquired infielder Josh Smith and pitcher Josh Stephan from the Rangers. The 25-year-old Macko made his MLB debut with the Jays this past season and represented Canada at the World Baseball Classic.
Smith has been a consistent MLB player for the Rangers over the past five seasons, while Stephan is still looking to make his Major League debut.
Varsho era comes to an end
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A staple among the Toronto outfield has also moved on to a new team.
30-year-old Daulton Varsho was traded to the Houston Astros on deadline day in exchange for pitcher Spencer Arrighetti. This marks the end of a three-year stint in Toronto for Varsho after he was acquired in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2022.
The 26-year-old, right-handed Arrighetti is currently injured but is set to join the Blue Jays starting rotation when he gets healthy and is under team control through the 2029 season.
Blue Jays cut ties with Hoffman
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Jeff Hoffman’s Blue Jays stint officially came to an end on Monday after a last-minute trade to the Minnesota Twins.Ā
In exchange, Toronto acquired a trio of minor leaguers from the Twins that included pitchers Dasan Hill and John Klein, as well as middle infielder Dameury Pena.
The 33-year-old lost his job as Toronto’s closer this season after struggling to consistently close out games. Though he ended the 2025 campaign fourth in the league with 33 saves, he was also among the MLB leaders with seven blown saves as well.