At the 2026 trade deadline, the Toronto Blue Jays made some pretty interesting moves.

What seemed like a sell-off with the Kevin Gausman trade to the Cubs quickly pivoted when the Jays traded for Angels starter Jose Soriano, giving the impression that Toronto wasn’t throwing in the towel but was making some moves with the future in mind. Gausman is free agent eligible after this season (and lightly kicked the tires on retiring) while Soriano is under contract through 2028, which bears some significant importance considering there is a potential lockout on the horizon.

The Jays also made a small move in acquiring utility player Josh Smith and RHP Josh Stephan from the Texas Rangers, sending left-hander Adam Macko the other way. This deal didn’t make a ton of sense off the hop, considering Macko was a left-handed reliever (which the Jays needed), and despite a woeful July spell, he had been stellar through his first two months of big league baseball, while also being the casualty of the business side of the game when it came to the roster crunch and having to ride the options bus.

Stephan is chugging away in the minor leagues as a depth arm, but Smith has some interesting qualities. The Louisiana product can play numerous positions on the field and is a versatile bench guy with four years of experience coming into this season. Similar to Soriano, he’s not free agent eligible until after the 2028 season. However, Smith wasn’t really satisfying a need at first glance.

There’s a fair argument that the Jays didn’t need another guy on the bench who could play multiple positions; the current roster had enough backfill that if Player A couldn’t go at the position, they had someone who could cover it for a night off. They also had a few prospects who had earned a shot at some big league time, such as Sean Keys, Charles McAdoo, and newcomer Brett Bateman, and some guys with something to prove in Davis Schneider and Myles Straw, who could fill in as well. Truth be told, the Jays needed some power to their lineup with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. struggling to find the home runs and with George Springer struggling to find his 2025 form. The Jays needed someone to complement Kazuma Okamoto in the lineup to provide that extra thunder at the plate.

Smith didn’t necessarily fit that bill. His highest single-season home run total was back in 2024 with 13 knocks, and entering this season, he boasted a .236/.327/.680 slash line with a 97 OPS+. For 2026, he was struggling with the Rangers as well, amassing a .571 OPS and a .272 SLG through 136 at-bats while spending time on the IL and also being optioned back to Triple-A on a couple of occasions.

However, since joining Toronto, Smith has been bucking his past trends.

Through 45 at-bats, he’s already collected five home runs and seven RBIs, one off his total from his time with the Rangers earlier this year, and owns a .370 OBP and a .600 SLG for his efforts. A hamstring injury sent him to the sidelines for ten days in late August, but when Smith is healthy, his bat has been contributing on the diamond for the Blue Jays. He’s put up a 0.6 bWAR for Toronto while playing in left field, third base, and second base for the Jays and for September, he’s put up a .294/.435/.824 slash line with four walks and seven strikeouts.

The sample size is small, so there’s no guarantee (nor should it be banked) that this version of Josh Smith is what Jays’ fans can expect from him over the next two seasons. But the reality is that the club need to be putting their hottest bats on the field right now with a Wild Card spot on the horizon, and Smith is finding ways to put the ball in play and put the ball over the wall, against his historical hitting profile. It’s one of the reasons the Jays likely felt a bit better letting Jesus Sanchez go, considering Smith is providing more upside at the plate compared to the former Astros left-handed bat. Having

The trade didn’t make a ton of sense at the time, but if Smith can continue to find ways to put forward meaningful at-bats or come off the bench late in games and be the versatile defender with some pop from the left side, he could be a difference maker in the close games.

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