#blue-jays

#blue-jays

It's been a wacky month for 2025 Toronto Blue Jays pitchers. Kevin Gausman is openly pondering retirement. Chris Bassitt, now a member of the Baltimore Orioles, still isn't over the team's World Series loss. José Berrios continues to apologize for abandoning the team during their postseason run. And now, Max Scherzer is reportedly close to returning to Canada for one final swan song in 2026.

While re-signing both could be possible, extending Gausman should be the preferred choice if it ends up being one or the other situation. Very few starting pitchers in the game are as consistent as Gausman. He's made at least 31 starts each of the past five seasons with an ERA of 3.83 or better. All signs point to him putting up strong numbers again after showing no signs of slowing down in 2025.

It's a statue that should've been built a long time ago. Carter spent seven of his 16 big league seasons with the Jays, helping the team win the World Series in both 1992 and 1993. With the Blue Jays down 8-6 in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the 1993 World Series, Carter stepped up to the plate with two runners on.

Before the 2022 season, Heineman signed a minor league deal with the Jays. After a handful of games with the team, he was designated for assignment and claimed by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The following season, the Jays traded for Heineman, before he was claimed off waivers by the Boston Red Sox at the end of the 2023 season. In September of 2024, Heineman was claimed off waivers by the Jays.

Law separated the teams into different Tiers, and then numbered them 1-30. The Blue Jays ranked in Tier 6, the second lowest, and 25th overall. The other teams in Tier 6 were Miami Marlins (No. 22) followed by Colorado Rockies, West Sacramento Athletics, Toronto and Texas Rangers. Law wrote, "In fairness, they nearly won the World Series, and traded a lot of prospects to get there, sending nearly all of their top pitching prospects after Trey Yesavage to other clubs to bolster their roster for the stretch run."

A tenth-round pick for the Astros in the 2019 draft, Stubbs was cut loose by Houston in May 2024, and he then quickly inked a new minor league deal with the Nationals. This stint in the Nats organization resulted in Stubbs' first taste of Major League action, albeit a small one - Stubbs' MLB resume consists of a single game, as he went 0-for-3 while starting behind the plate in Washington's 2-0 win over the Marlins on September 1.

Much has been made of the Blue Jays' offseason, one that started with a thunderous bang, but has since left some wanting more after Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette landed elsewhere after rampant speculation all winter had the Blue Jays landing at least one of the two top bats on the market. The one area of the roster that hasn't been talked about nearly as much is the bullpen.

For Encarnación it was going to be tough to make an argument for why he should be a hall of famer. He had a lot of really good seasons, but never had one of those all-time great stretches, although between 2012 and 2019 he hit 297 home runs, had an OPS of .892 and and OPS+ of 138. He was worth 29.1 bWAR while playing with the Blue Jays, Cleveland Guardians, New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners over that run.

Other notables included Dominican outfielders Michael Mesa and Aneudy Severino, who've reportedly signed for $900,000 and $700,000, respectively. Those signings were the second- and third-richest handed out by the franchise, behind Caricote's bonus. In total, the Blue Jays have signed 11 pitchers, six infielders, five catchers and four outfielders from the 2026 class so far, and they can continue to sign international players until the current signing period concludes on Dec. 15.

On Jun. 7, the Blue Jays designated Cavan Biggio for assignment, but were able to trade him to the Dodgers for Fisher. After the trade, Fisher posted a 2.76 ERA and 2.83 FIP in 16.1 innings pitched in Double-A, but struggled in Triple-A, posting an ERA above 6, just like he did for the Dodgers' Triple-A team. Fisher had a strong showing in Spring Training, striking out Aaron Judge in his final game.

Unlike the 2024 season, where nearly everything went wrong, a whole lot went right in 2025. For the first time in a while, a young relief pitcher came out of nowhere and contributed significantly, as Braydon Fisher was involved in a minor trade in 2024 to an important piece of the bullpen last season. Moreover, Mason Fluharty had some massive moments for the team in 2025.

#BlueJays have signed 1B/OF Jorge Burgos to a minor-league deal, per the transaction log. The 23 y/o played 98 games at AA last season, slashing .206/.295/.386 with 14 HR, 73 RBI & 101 wRC+. Current Cleveland #Guardians minor league players who are now free agents for the 2026 season. INF Christian Cairo INF Yordys Valdes 1B/OF Jorge Burgos RHP Trey Benton RHP Bradley Hanner RHP Allan Hernandez RHP Carlos Hernandez RHP Triston Mckenzie LHP Parker Mushinski RHP

Thankfully the emergence of Daulton Varsho as an elite defensive centre fielder and a power bat has temporarily put to rest the yearly referendum on whether trading for him made sense. On December 23, 2022, the Blue Jays pulled off a surprise move by dealing outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and catching prospect Gabriel Moreno for Varsho. This transaction was the first of many in an organizational shift towards acquiring or signing defensive-minded players in the vein of promoting run prevention over run creation.

During last season's Spring Training, the left-handed reliever signed a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays, earning a call-up to the big league team in mid-June. Over the span of a few stints with the big league team, the 28-year-old left-handed pitcher had a 5.27 ERA and 4.16 FIP in 13.2 innings pitched, with a 27.7 K% and 10.8 BB%. Bruihl had a better time with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, authoring a 3.43 ERA and 3.38 FIP in 42 innings pitched, with a 27.8 K% and 9.1 BB%.

The current Toronto Blue Jays offseason appears to be centered around whether the Blue Jays can re-sign Bo Bichette, or if they can trade for Ketel Marte to address their infield heading into the 2026 season. After all, there aren't too many infielders that could produce at such an elite rate as both players have done throughout their careers. But what happens if the Blue Jays fails to get Bichette or Marte this offseason?

Astros 40-man roster move incoming: The Astros are reportedly signing right-hander to a major league deal, bringing him over from the Korea Baseball Organization. The Astros have a full 40-man roster, so they'll need to make a move in order to accommodate their new signing. The most common way to accomplish that is simply by designating a player for assignment, but it's also possible Houston could look to work out a trade that clears 40-man roster space instead.

While it may seem a bit odd, December typically is one of the most exciting months on the baseball calendar. The Winter Meetings is typically the peak of off-season activity, and we are just a week away from the 2025 MLB Winter Meetings starting. This does not mean that moves will stop until then, but the main takeaway is that activity should continue to pick for the Braves and other teams.