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3 depth players the Blue Jays should keep off the trade block
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Photo credit: © Ken Blaze - Imagn Images
Matthew Spagnuolo
Jan 8, 2026, 19:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 8, 2026, 12:25 EST
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With the 2026 season fast approaching, the Toronto Blue Jays have done a lot of adding this offseason.
The past three months have seen the front office make sizeable additions to the roster in Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce, Tyler Rogers, and, most recently, Kazuma Okamoto. While names such as Bo Bichette, Seranthony Dominguez, Yariel Rodriguez, Nick Sandlin, Justin Bruihl, and recently DFA’d Paxton Schultz are no longer with the organization or off the 40-man, it makes you wonder what’s next for the team. Many reporters have said the Jays are far from done and look to want to add another big bat, and have one of Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette in their crosshairs.
Ben Nicholson-Smith has been insinuating in interviews that the team is going to have to start making subtractions off the roster, and Ross Atkins further fueled the fire during the team’s press conference introducing Kazuma Okamoto on Tuesday. 
While we all have favourites and players who we may want to stick around with the team, there are a few that are likely going to be on the roster as locks for 2026. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is obviously a definite lock for the team after signing his long-term contract back last April. George Springer, while recovering from injuries, is also another lock to make the roster when healthy, as well as other mainstays like Kevin Gausman.
Whose name on the team can we see them saying a hard no to being moved?

Ernie Clement

If you told any Blue Jays fan in 2023 that Ernie Clement was going to be one of the most important players for the organization two seasons later, you’d get cross-eyed looks.
While he is pushing 30, Clement seems to be getting better with age as he’s emerged as an amazing contact hitter. Setting the postseason hits record of 30 hits all playoffs is an impressive feat on its own. This past year, the utility player was ranked third on the team in WAR with 4.3, played the most games this season (157), fourth on the team in hits (151), second on the team in doubles (35) and was nominated for a gold glove as a utility player and the third base position.
The benefit of his positional flexibility is that he can play basically every position in the infield as needed and can even be in the outfield in a pinch. A healthy Ernie Clement near the bottom of your lineup that can hit lefties incredibly well and also can provide some clutch hitting near the bottom of the lineup, while likely becoming the go-to option at second base if Bichette walks in free agency.

Louis Varland

While acquiring Shane Bieber was the flashiest move at the 2025 trade deadline, Louis Varland was the one who seemed to be of more impact down the stretch. After a tough first couple of weeks with the team after being surprised with a trade, Varland locked in and finished with a 3.86 ERA through September.
Come playoff time, Varland was being used in almost every single postseason game. Varland’s 16 innings of work were actually fourth among pitchers on the team during the postseason, pitching 1 2/3 innings more than Max Scherzer and setting an MLB record with his 15 appearances.
Varland was originally brought up into the major leagues as a starting pitcher, but found great success as a reliever, which fans saw on display in Minnesota and now in Toronto. Some fans have even floated the idea of having Varland close games in 2026, which is something he has never done in his career thus far. If the team is truly done adding in the bullpen after signing Tyler Rogers, expect Varland to be an innings eater for the team this year, as John Schneider has shown he is quite impressed with the pitch selection as well as velocity.

Daulton Varsho

Even though he only played in 71 games this year due to injuries, Daulton Varsho is the one mainstay of the Blue Jays’ outfielders.
Through the 71 games, he posted a career high OPS of .833, with smashing 2o home runs and 55 RBIs. Varho’s defense is unmatched, and it was on full display in the small spurts he played this season. Varsho is a Super 2 Player, and this is his last year of arbitration before hitting free agency next winter.
Given the number of players who can slot in the outfield, such as Myles Straw, Anthony Santander, Nathan Lukes, Addison Barger, Davis Schneider, and Joey Loperfido, the outfield is quite crowded as is. With the front office potentially adding Kyle Tucker to the mix, the Jays still need to rely on the gold glove defence of Varsho to take away hits from opponents.
Varshos WAR (2.8) was ranked sixth this past season on the team, which just goes to show that when he’s healthy and in the outfield, he can be a game-changer.

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