logo
3 players the Blue Jays can target through trade this off-season
alt
Photo credit: © David Richard-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Dec 31, 2025, 11:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 31, 2025, 04:53 EST
Comments
The Toronto Blue Jays aren’t done with their roster construction.
Approaching the New Year, one addition is clearly needed, a big bat to replace Bo Bichette. There’s been a lot of talk about them going big game hunting on the free agent market, as they’ve been linked to Bichette, Kyle Tucker, and Alex Bregman, but what about trades?
Over the past three off-seasons, the Jays have used trades to improve their team. In the 2022/23 off-season, they traded Teoscar Hernández to the Seattle Mariners for Erik Swanson and Adam Macko, as well as Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. for Daulton Varsho.
After not making a major trade during the 2023/24 (it’s no surprise that season was a struggle in hindsight), the Jays acquired both Andrés Giménez and Myles Straw in two separate trades with the Cleveland Guardians. Could they look to make another trade this off-season?

Steven Kwan

It seems fitting to start with a player on the Cleveland Guardians, as the Jays’ current regime sure does love trading with their former employer. Most recently, the Jays sent a recently DFA’ed Justin Bruihl to the Guardians, but the Jays also acquired Shane Bieber on trade deadline day, as well as the aforementioned Giménez and Straw trades last off-season.
Another Guardian the Blue Jays were linked to before the deadline is Steven Kwan. The left-handed batting outfielder is a strong lead-off hitter and one of the best corner infield defenders in baseball. His 2025 season wasn’t great, slashing just .272/.330/.374 with 11 home runs in 693 plate appearances for a 99 wRC+, but at his best, he’d be a great addition for the Jays.
Take Kwan’s 2024 season as an example. That year, he slashed .292/.368/.425 with 14 home runs in 540 plate appearances for a 131 wRC+, with a higher BB% (9.8%) than K% (9.4%). Varsho’s 85 Defensive Runs Saved is the most for any outfielder since the start of the 2022 season, but Kwan ranks second for outfielders with 63 DRS.
Speaking of Varsho, he’s set to become a free agent after the 2026 season, as is George Springer. Because of both those players potentially leaving, the Jays will need to look to bring in an outfielder for 2027 and beyond, but next off-season’s free agent class is on the rather weak side.
Adding Tucker is the much better option, but Kwan is a strong contract hitter with strong defence and good speed. He’s certainly a fit.

JoJo Romero

The Blue Jays’ bullpen is already crowded, but one area of need is a left-handed reliever who can pitch in high-leverage. JoJo Romero of the St. Louis Cardinals is a good option.
Last season, the 29-year-old lefty posted a 2.07 ERA and 3.28 FIP in 61 innings pitched, finishing with a 21.6 K% and an elevated BB% of 11.4%. It was Romero’s second full season in the big leagues, as he posted a 3.36 ERA and 4.27 FIP in 59 innings pitched in 2024 with the Cardinals.
He sits mid 90s with the sinker, but also throws a changeup, slider, and changeup, with the slider being his primary pitch. Romero relies heavily on ground balls,, as his 54.5 ground ball percentage was in the 95th percentile according to Baseball Savant.
Adding Romero would give the Blue Jays a left-handed reliever to use in high-leverage, as Romero pitched in 20.2 innings of high leverage last season, holding batters to a .164 batting average (albeit with 15 walks to 12 strikeouts).
There’s a legitimate argument that aside from a bat, adding a high-leverage lefty is their big need, depending on how you view Brendon Little. Romero will be a free agent at season’s end, so maybe this is a move the Jays pursue closer to the trade deadline.

Freddy Peralta

The Blue Jays’ bullpen is almost set in stone, but their rotation is most definitely set in stone, other than deciding who’ll be the fifth starter between José Berríos and Cody Ponce. That said, you can never have too much pitching, and adding an ace-calibre pitcher like Freddy Peralta can make an already good rotation that much better.
Last season with the Milwaukee Brewers, the 29-year-old right-handed pitcher posted a 2.70 ERA and 3.64 FIP in 176.2 innings pitched, with a 28.2 K% and 9.1 BB%. It was his best season in the big leagues, but Peralta has regularly posted an ERA below 3.90 since becoming a full-time starter in 2021. The 2021 season also saw him post 2.81 ERA and 3.12 FIP in 144.1 innings pitched.
What makes Peralta so appealing (and also so expensive) is his contract situation, as he’s set to earn $8 million in 2026 before becoming a free agent. The cost would be astronomical, even for a soon-to-be free agent, but imagine a rotation of Peralta, Dylan Cease, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, and Trey Yesavage.
Yeah, there’d need to be tough decisions with Ponce and Berríos, but it’s pretty fair to say that a Blue Jays’ rotation with Peralta would be one of the best in Major League Baseball, if not the best.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

Featured

Editorials

Breaking News