The Toronto Blue Jays have been one of the more active sellers before the July 30th trade deadline, with the club dealing with three different organizations as the club looks to trade expiring contracts and focus on the 2025 season.

The first deal out of the gate was dealing reliever Yimi García to the Seattle Mariners and yesterday, the Jays made two separate transactions, sending right-hander Nate Pearson to the Chicago Cubs and then moving catcher Danny Jansen to the Boston Red Sox, a rare intradivision transaction as the Jays continue to wheel and deal.

Of the trades, the García and Jansen trades make the most sense given they fit the mould of what the front office was looking to move regarding free-agent-eligible players this offseason. The Pearson trade is a bit more of a headscratcher, as the club is particularly weak in pitching depth and the right-hander still has contract control through the 2026 season. Pearson is out of options after next season, meaning he needs to stick with the club or be exposed to waivers through the DFA process.

At one point in time, Pearson was one of the top prospects in baseball although injuries and inconsistent performances on the mound have seen him move to the bullpen while floating between the big leagues and triple-A.

With this move, it appears that the Jays front office felt comfortable letting the right-hander go and likely didn’t value him back in the rotation, so he was more expendable compared to other arms even though he wasn’t on an expiring contract sort of speak (although again, out of options next year).

In return, the Blue Jays have been stocking a prospect cupboard that has been in flux over the past few seasons.

As of late, the Blue Jays have been using their top prospects as trade chips for veteran talent as a means to try and form a postseason-fitting squad that has yet to find success on the diamond. Of the group, the Jays have moved OF Austin Martin, INF Jordan Groshans, RHP Simeon Woods-Richardson, RHP Nick Frasso, RHP Gunnar Hoglund, RHP Adam Kloffenstein, and RHP Sem Robberse (amongst others) over the past three seasons, all of whom ranked on the top prospects lists at one point or another.

In return this trade deadline, the Jays have acquired seven prospects so far – OF Jonatan Clase, OF Yohendrick Pinango, INF Cutter Coffey, INF Eddinson Paulino, INF Josh Rivera, C Jacob Sharp, and RHP Gilberto Batista. With the transactions, Clase has slotted into the seventh spot on the MLB Pipeline’s top prospect rankings while Paulino slots into 19th, Pinango in 25th, Coffey into 27th, and Rivera into 30th.

Rankings are fluid throughout the regular season but it is a bit telling to see the state of the Blue Jays farm system when five of the seven players acquired slot into the top 30 rankings, considering some didn’t rank at all in their respective organizations before their respective trades.

Of the group, Clase is the only one reporting to triple-A and has some MLB experience although he struggled during the limited sample size this season, authoring a striking out 14 times through 41 at-bats with eight hits and three RBIs to the tune of a .453 OPS. Once the trade deadline passes, there is an increased likelihood that Clase will return to the big leagues to finish out the season with the Blue Jays as the organization resets for 2024 and lets some prospects get more exposure under the bright lights of the Rogers Centre.

The interesting trend with these deals is that while they have done wonders to restock a depleted farm system, they go against the reports that the Blue Jays want to contend in 2025 considering they still have Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and Chris Bassitt under contract for one more season. Ross Atkins and co. are reportedly unwilling to trade controllable players (except for Pearson apparently) to support this drive next season and while that makes some sense on paper, these trade deadline transactions don’t assist that ideology outside of Clase, who could be a roster player next season.

That’s not to say the Blue Jays can’t do the heavy lifting this winter to compose a team for a postseason drive in 2025. The organization could also work to extend Guerrero Jr. and/or Bichette this winter to keep at least some of the core together and provide some future stability for Toronto – supporting the drive to win in 2025 and beyond.

The Jays are also not done trading, as the club still employs Yusei Kikuchi, Trevor Richards, Justin Turner, Kevin Kiermaier, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Chad Green – all players who either fit the expiring contract target or have been involved in trade rumours with the deadline approaching.

The front office could find some more players in return to join the likes of Clase, who either have MLB experience or will be knocking on the door and supporting that contention idea next year. That is still to be determined and so far, those who value prospects in the organization are currently having a field day.

The trade deadline has been fruitful for depth in the farm system but a majority of players acquired will not have an immediate impact at the big league level, which is a bit surprising given the ‘we are going to contend in 2025’ talks. However, that motion could also be in flux this winter if Ross Atkins gets axed, a move that continues to gain steam as the Blue Jays are going to be without another postseason win this season barring a heroic turnaround that would rival any Disney movie.

All eyes will be on Toronto as the club continues to trade away players before the July 30th deadline.