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3 Blue Jays who appeared for the club in 2026 listed on The Athletic’s Top 40 MLB free agents board
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Photo credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images
Michael Coyle
Oct 28, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 28, 2026, 00:38 EDT
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When the 2026 World Series wraps up between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays, Major League Baseball will officially shift its eyes to the offseason. 
Players who played the 2026 campaign on expiring contracts are set to be free agents, and five days from the World Series being decided, teams will be able to sign and negotiate contracts to add to their rosters going into 2027. 
On Tuesday, Jim Bowden of The Athletic released an article of his Top 40 MLB free agents, and among the players listed were three players who spent time with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2026: Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, and Daulton Varsho.
Ranked 25th on Bowden’s list, the last time Gausman entered free agency, he was signed by the Blue Jays to a five-year, $110-million contract. Gausman spent four and a half seasons in Toronto, a stretch in which he posted a 53-51 record and a 3.62 ERA. 
As the Blue Jays sat with a 52-60 record on August 2, they traded Gausman to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Brett Bateman and Ty Southisene. Over nine outings with the Cubs, Gausman recorded a 4.83 ERA, and while he mentioned retirement as a possibility, the 35-year-old would still provide a boost to most rotations around MLB. 
Gausman is no longer a top-of-the-rotation starter, but he can still log innings in the middle or back end of a rotation and can serve as a mentor for younger starters. He split this season between the Blue Jays and the Cubs and posted a 4.51 ERA in 177 2/3 innings, yielding more hits than innings pitched for the first time in four years. It was his highest ERA in seven seasons. His split-fingered fastball is still effective and hitters will chase that and the fastball, but he gave up more hard contact with both pitches last season than the year before and his slider hasn’t been effective the past two seasons.
The second Blue Jay to appear on the list was Bieber who found himself slotted in at 26th. Bieber was acquired by the Blue Jays at the 2025 trade deadline, as he returned from Tommy John surgery and pitched well down the stretch, highlighted by a 3.57 ERA. 
Following the 2025 postseason, Bieber forwent free agency and opted into his $16-million player option to remain in Toronto for the 2026 campaign. While the 31-year-old’s season was marred by injuries, he dominated over four starts in August when he went 3-0 with a 2.59 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP before seeing his season come to a close after being placed on the 15-day injured list on August 24. 
Bieber started the season on the IL with elbow inflammation, likely a carryover from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in 2024. He then made 11 starts and had a 4.37 ERA, but didn’t have the command and control he had previously. He returned to the injured list in late August with mild right teres major inflammation in his right shoulder and back and didn’t return by the end of the season.
He was pitching the best he had all season at the time of his last injury. His contract offers this offseason will depend on the most recent medicals and physicians’ opinions on his future health risks.
The third and final player who appeared for the Blue Jays in 2026 to appear on Bowden’s list was Varsho, who was listed at 30. Varsho spent three and a half years in Toronto after being acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks in December 2022. 
In his time with the Blue Jays, Varsho appeared in 464 games and batted .226 with 65 home runs and 200 RBIs before being dealt to the Houston Astros at the trade deadline. While shoulder and wrist surgeries have popped up over the past few offseasons, Varsho has hit at least 20 home runs in three of his seven MLB seasons and could be a sneaky addition to a club’s outfield. 
Varsho started the year with the Blue Jays, batting .243 with a .307 OBP while hitting seven homers and stealing nine bases in 99 games. The Gold Glove winner wasn’t quite the same defensively, according to metrics and scouts who evaluated him. The Astros acquired him at the deadline and he hit just .172 for them. Late in the season, it was discovered that he had played the entire year with a wrist injury that included two cysts. He underwent surgery in late September to remove the cysts and should be 100 percent before spring training.
He could be a good bounce-back candidate offensively with a healthy wrist, though the defensive slide probably can’t be attributed to the wrist injury. He could be looking at a prove-it deal this offseason.
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