It&#8217;s off to San Diego for infielder Will Wagner. 
The Toronto Blue Jays are sending Wagner to the San Diego Padres in a deal that brings catching prospect Brandon Valenzuela in return, both clubs announced Thursday afternoon.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
OFFICIAL: We&#39;ve acquired C Brandon Valenzuela from the Padres in exchange for INF Will Wagner.
Welcome to our Blue Jays family! <a href="https://t.co/3SCQjzomis">pic.twitter.com/3SCQjzomis</a>
&mdash; Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1951024064849650104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Acquiring Valenzuela &#8212; who wasn&#8217;t on the Padres&#8217; 40-man roster and is Rule 5-eligible this winter &#8212; brings much-needed support to the Blue Jays&#8217; minor-league catching depth. With Wagner headed to the West Coast, the move also frees up a 40-man roster spot for Toronto ahead of a potential roster crunch post-trade deadline.
The 24-year-old is considered a glove-first prospect, regarded for his fielding behind the plate and ability to throw out base stealers &#8212; he&#8217;s nabbed over a third of them across 71 attempts this season.
Valenzuela was signed out of Mexico as an international free agent in 2017 and was previously ranked as the Padres&#8217; <a href="https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/padres/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 26 prospect per MLB Pipeline</a>. He&#8217;s a switch-hitting catcher and has yet to establish much offensive upside thus far. However, he has displayed some power in 87 games at double-A in &#8217;25, hitting 12 home runs with a .159 ISO and 106 wRC+ (100 league average), despite featuring a measly .229/.313/.387 slash line.
The 6-foot-1 backstop doesn&#8217;t strike out much, though, as evidenced by his 22.2-per-cent rate, which has paired nicely with his 10.7-per-cent walk rate this season.
Wagner arrived in Toronto as part of last season&#8217;s package from the Houston Astros &#8212; also included Jake Bloss and Joey Loperfido &#8212; in the <a href="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/2024/07/29/toronto-blue-jays-trade-yusei-kikuchi-to-houston-astros/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yusei Kikuchi trade</a>. While the organization seemed fairly high on the 27-year-old at the time, the left-handed-hitting infielder had fallen down the depth chart following last off-season&#8217;s Andrés Giménez trade, leaving him without a clear pathway to stick with the big-league club.
In 40 games since being called up from triple-A Buffalo, Wagner had been struggling offensively and slashed .237/.336/.298 with an 85 wRC+, though he did maintain his dependable plate discipline with an 11.4-per-cent walk rate compared to his 19.7-per-cent strikeout rate.
After adding Seranthony Domínguez on Tuesday and Shane Bieber earlier Thursday, the Blue Jays remain active in the trade market ahead of the 6 p.m. ET deadline, seeking to acquire another reliever and likely a right-handed bat.

It's off to San Diego for infielder Will Wagner. 

The Toronto Blue Jays are sending Wagner to the San Diego Padres in a deal that brings catching prospect Brandon Valenzuela in return, both clubs announced Thursday afternoon.

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https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1951024064849650104

Acquiring Valenzuela -- who wasn't on the Padres' 40-man roster and is Rule 5-eligible this winter -- brings much-needed support to the Blue Jays' minor-league catching depth. With Wagner headed to the West Coast, the move also frees up a 40-man roster spot for Toronto ahead of a potential roster crunch post-trade deadline.

The 24-year-old is considered a glove-first prospect, regarded for his fielding behind the plate and ability to throw out base stealers -- he's nabbed over a third of them across 71 attempts this season.

Valenzuela was signed out of Mexico as an international free agent in 2017 and was previously ranked as the Padres' <a href="https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/padres/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 26 prospect per MLB Pipeline</a>. He's a switch-hitting catcher and has yet to establish much offensive upside thus far. However, he has displayed some power in 87 games at double-A in '25, hitting 12 home runs with a .159 ISO and 106 wRC+ (100 league average), despite featuring a measly .229/.313/.387 slash line.

The 6-foot-1 backstop doesn't strike out much, though, as evidenced by his 22.2-per-cent rate, which has paired nicely with his 10.7-per-cent walk rate this season.

Wagner arrived in Toronto as part of last season's package from the Houston Astros -- also included Jake Bloss and Joey Loperfido -- in the <a href="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/2024/07/29/toronto-blue-jays-trade-yusei-kikuchi-to-houston-astros/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yusei Kikuchi trade</a>. While the organization seemed fairly high on the 27-year-old at the time, the left-handed-hitting infielder had fallen down the depth chart following last off-season's Andrés Giménez trade, leaving him without a clear pathway to stick with the big-league club.

In 40 games since being called up from triple-A Buffalo, Wagner had been struggling offensively and slashed .237/.336/.298 with an 85 wRC+, though he did maintain his dependable plate discipline with an 11.4-per-cent walk rate compared to his 19.7-per-cent strikeout rate.

After adding Seranthony Domínguez on Tuesday and Shane Bieber earlier Thursday, the Blue Jays remain active in the trade market ahead of the 6 p.m. ET deadline, seeking to acquire another reliever and likely a right-handed bat.

Blue Jays trade Will Wagner to Padres for Brandon Valenzuela

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