With the trade deadline come and gone and the Toronto Blue Jays now moving on to their renewed playoff aspirations, one can’t help but look back at the players who were traded away.

While the Blue Jays have done the unique buy-sell approach at the trade deadline, we have already had a small sample size of what new faces José Soriano, Josh Smith, and Brett Bateman are capable of.

Now is a good time to look at a few faces the Blue Jays traded at the deadline, including Kevin Gausman, Daulton Varsho, Jeff Hoffman, Adam Macko, and Arjun Nimmala are faring in their new homes.

The most notable piece that was sold before the deadline was Gausman. The long-time right-hander being traded away to the Cubs was without a doubt a bitter pill for many fans within the franchise. Gausman finished his campaign ranked seventh among Blue Jays pitchers in strikeouts and 11th all-time in innings pitched.

While trading Gausman was emotional, it reflected the team not wanting to lose him for nothing should it miss the playoffs. While Bateman and Ty Southisene are the main pieces we are learning about more, Gausman struggled in his first two starts with the Cubs. So far in 16 innings pitched, a 6.19 ERA across a pair of starts in south side. While Gausman’s first start went well, going seven strong innings against the Kansas City Royals, he was lit up for six against the Washington Nationals back on Wednesday night.

In his third outing with the Cubs on Tuesday, Gausman turned in a pitching line of 4.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, but was removed from the game with a left hand cramp. While the issue appears to be minor, the Cubs are going to be relying on Gausman as they try and chase down the Milwaukee Brewers for the National League Central Division title.

While it is going to take some adjusting as Gausman likely did not want to be traded, he can rebound to be a quality arm for the Cubs as they look towards making a big run in the NL. When Gausman is on his game, Canada will tell you just how good of an arm you’re getting.

Varsho’s time with the Blue Jays this season was spotty both in the batter’s box and on the field compared to last season, but he is still an above-average fielder who can provide some pop when he does make contact. However, his time with the Houston Astros has been tough as he is currently slashing .125/.222/.188 across 13 games so far.

Varsho’s bat was taking a huge regression from last year; in the second half, he is only hitting .204 with only one home run and three extra-base hits. Varsho’s 12 strikeouts over 48 at-bats are not great for a power-hitting centre-fielder, as the Astros have been moving him up and down the lineup trying to find a spot that works for him.

While Varsho’s glove and bat are not quite what they were in 2024 and 2025, he is still an above-average player that can help Houston push forward to clinch the AL West for the fifth time in six seasons. Daulton still has flashes of his glove as shown below; he also still can show great power when he makes contact with the ball. His biggest issue for Houston has to be his discipline at the plate.

Jeff Hoffman is forever going to be unfortunately remembered for Game 7 of the World Series more than any other game he will pitch in for the rest of his career. It is a hard pill to swallow as when he is on, he can be a very dominant reliever. It was Hoffman’s second half of the season, where he posted an ERA of 1.54 across 11.2 innings, that led to him being traded to Minnesota.

The Twins did a retooling of their pitching staff as they brought in arms like A.J. Minter, Dean Kremer, and former Blue Jay Tommy Nance. Hoffman so far has a 3.00 ERA with the Twins in six appearances. While Yoendrys Gómez has taken over closing games for the Twins down the stretch, Hoffman looks to be used in a similar way as he was this season as a late-inning setup man.

Hoffman, unlike the previous two names, has term left on his contract past this season, meaning the haul the Twins paid was likely due to team control and flexibility, while the Twins remain in the playoff hunt, they have now gone 6-8 coming out of the trade deadline; at least they have Hoffman to help fortify a struggling bullpen going into 2026.

The Teoscar Hernandez trade tree continues to grow!

One of the two players on this post who have not seen major league action with their new team yet, Macko was a bit of a surprise trade as he was sent to the Rangers for utility infielder Smith. Macko being traded was a little surprising, but given that with drafting Cole Emerson and having the likes of Ricky Tiedemann waiting in the wings, Macko was slowly falling further down the Blue Jays’ depth chart. In 22 games in the majors, Macko posted a 4.91 ERA across 22 innings. Macko’s control was becoming an issue as he ended up having a horrific month of July where he allowed 10 of his 12 runs in the span of seven appearances in relief.

So far since being traded, Macko has reported to the Triple-A team of the Rangers, the Round Rock Express, where he has posted a 9.00 ERA in five innings. While Macko is still young enough to grow into a solid major league pitcher. This trade is an example of a good old baseball trade as both sides take a gamble on someone who could return to their strengths and become better as time passes.

The Nimmala hype train is now officially heading to Anaheim. Making a trade with the Angels is something that many fans were clamoring for as the demand to get Soriano and Reid Detmers was intensifying. Now with Soriano in a Blue Jays uniform, the Angels finally relented with selling off pieces, but Nimmala being one of the players they got in return is a great add.

The former No. 2-ranked prospect in the Blue Jays’ farm system is now the top-ranked prospect with the Angels. In 66 minor league games across High-A with the Vancouver Canadians and Double-AA with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Nimmala has hit .261 with eight home runs, 37 RBIs and 20 doubles across the minor leagues. From being drafted at 17 years old to now being only 20 and emerging as MLB-ready in a few more years is a great asset for the Angels to acquire.

So far in just five games in Double-A for the Rocket City Trash Pandas, Nimmala has only gone 3-for-15, but does have a .933 OPS as he is generating more walks than strikeouts. While three RBIS to show for in a small sample size, the Angels may have now found the name to be their shortstop of the future, should they opt to trade Zach Neto in the next couple of seasons. With Nimmala being so young and only getting better, the Angels may have just taken their first step if they finally commit to rebuilding.