Rockies outfielder Brenton Doyle is an underrated trade target for the Blue Jays
Photo credit: © Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
As the offseason officially gets underway, rumours will be rampant and fanbases will be photoshopping every star player onto their favourite ballclub. With that in mind, I’ll be doing a series of posts highlighting some lower-name-value players who I believe would be strong fits for the Blue Jays in 2026 and beyond.
We’ll start on the position-player side with my personal favourite trade target this offseason: Brenton Doyle, CF, Colorado Rockies.
Doyle is coming off a rough year—there’s no way to sugarcoat it. A .650 OPS and 0.6 fWAR across 138 games is underwhelming, no matter how you slice it. That said, his underlying tools leave enough room to believe he still has borderline star-level potential.
Pros
- 99th percentile arm value
- 96th percentile sprint speed
- 91st percentile Outs Above Average (OAA)
- 65th percentile barrel%
- 57th percentile squared-up%
- 56th percentile hard-hit%
By every measure, Doyle is a truly elite defensive center fielder—top five in the league. His arm strength is comparable to Addison Barger’s, paired with Myles Straw–level speed (if not slightly better).
Why 2025 might not tell the whole story
There are whispers that Doyle played through injury in 2025, which may have significantly impacted his offensive numbers. In 2024, he was a 23-HR/30-SB player with a .763 OPS, .329 xwOBA, and 3.6 fWAR, backed by excellent batted-ball data.
Another sticking point with Doyle is his drastic home/road splits:
- Home: .788 OPS / .336 wOBA / .199 ISO
- Road: .569 OPS / .250 wOBA / .119 ISO
Typically, I take little stock in Rockies players’ home/road splits because constantly adjusting from Coors altitude to every other ballpark is an impossible ask. The split itself doesn’t automatically mean the offensive skill set isn’t real.
How Doyle fits the Blue Jays’ Roster
A key question is how Doyle fits into the Blue Jays’ outfield picture.
Daulton Varsho is a free agent after the 2026 season and is now represented by Scott Boras. An extension before free agency seems unlikely. That leaves two realistic outcomes:
A) Varsho walks, and Doyle becomes your starting center fielder through 2029.
B) Varsho hits the market but ultimately re-signs with Toronto. In that case, Varsho shifts back to a corner outfield role. His revived power, thanks to mechanical changes—uprighted stance, hand adjustments—makes that move more sensible, and it better protects against his 5th-percentile arm strength.
Trade Cost and Organizational Fit
Acquiring Doyle will not be cheap—assuming the Rockies even want to move him. With team control through 2030, a player with Doyle’s tools and defensive value likely costs multiple top-12 prospects and at least one MLB-ready piece.
But this is a player whose surface stats don’t tell the full story. Doyle has outlier traits that a competent, development-focused organization could unlock. Personally, I’d love to see what David Popkins and Lou Iannotti could do with Doyle’s profile if he ever landed in Toronto.
For all these reasons, Brenton Doyle is a player I believe would be worth the acquisition cost.
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