Examining what moves the Blue Jays’ have made in the past seven off-seasons
Photo credit: © Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Oct 31, 2026, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 30, 2026, 21:04 EDT
The 2026-27 off-season is going to be a busy one for the Toronto Blue Jays.
After falling short of the 2025 World Series, the Blue Jays’ offence struggled throughout the 2026 season, leading the team to miss the playoffs. With the off-season looming, I don’t know what their moves will be, but I can say with utmost certainty that big moves will be made.
In this article, we’ll look at what the Blue Jays have done in the past seven off-seasons.
2025-26 off-season
As bad as the 2026 season was, it’s not the fault of the players that Blue Jays’ general manager Ross Atkins added. Well, most of them at least.
Their big addition was Dylan Cease, who finished the season with a 2.40 ERA and 2.56 FIP in 169 innings of work, alongside a 34.9 K%, 11.4 BB%, and a very likely Cy Young nomination. He was the reason why the Blue Jays hung around the playoff race as long as they did.
Tyler Rogers joined the team as a high-leverage reliever who had good results over the past five seasons. Make it six, as he finished with a 1.77 ERA and 3.35 FIP in 71 innings of work, though his walk rate did jump from 2.3% to 7.5%.
Kazuma Okamoto was the only bat who offered any type of slug at all in 2026. The third baseman slashed .232/.310/.452 with 33 home runs in 636 plate appearances, with the next closest Blue Jay hitting 15 home runs. Okamoto was inconsistent through the season and struck out a bunch (28.8 K%), but he’ll be a power threat and the solution to the Blue Jays’ third base woes for the foreseeable future.
Their other major league signings dealt with injury. I maintain that the second Cody Ponce’s season ended was the day that the season went downhill. Of course it happened four games into the season. Let’s hope next season goes better for the righty.
Max Scherzer also struggled to stay healthy throughout the season, serving a few stints on the injured list. His 5.74 ERA and 5.11 FIP in 84.2 innings weren’t great, but after his final stint on the IL, the future Hall of Famer offered stability in the Jays’ rotation. Over 62.2 innings of work, Scherzer posted a 4.16 ERA and 3.82 FIP, and who could forget his final start.
Spencer Miles was another addition in the off-season. He’s the only player mentioned in this article who was acquired via the Rule 5 Draft. Whoever made that decision deserves a raise. What a season he had.
The Blue Jays also made a handful of signings that impacted them in 2026 or will impact the roster in 2027. Nic Enright and Josh Winckowski each spent the 2026 season injured, but will contend for a spot on the roster next season.
Josh Fleming, Brendan Cellucci, Jesse Hahn, Austin Voth, and Joe Mantiply were the notable minor league signees, with Mantiply and Cellucci being the only ones with any type of success. Cellucci pitched well to end the season and could contend for a roster spot in 2027.
One avenue the Blue Jays didn’t touch for team improvement last off-season was trades. They made one notable trade, acquiring Jesús Sánchez from the Houston Astros for Joey Loperfido. Sánchez didn’t live up to expectations and was DFA’d before the end of the season. The Blue Jays also traded for Chase Lee, who made several appearances in the big leagues but spent most of his season in Triple-A.
2024-25 off-season
On the other hand, the big signings in the 2025 off-season didn’t and haven’t panned out for the Blue Jays. Instead, internal improvements led to the success they found, including winning the American League pennant.
Anthony Santander was their big addition that off-season, and he appeared in just 54 games toward the start of the season where he had a 61 wRC+. He didn’t appear in a game for the Blue Jays in 2026, hopefully he’s fully healthy for the 2027 season.
Yimi García also spent a large part of the 2025 season injured and missed all of 2026. Their bullpen was solid so his presence wasn’t missed all that much, but man, he could’ve been used in the World Series run.
Scherzer also signed this off-season to a much larger contract than he did the following year. He had similar stats in 2025, but had a good run in the summer and pitched well in the postseason. This was an alright signing, even if he was injured for a significant portion of the 2025 season.
Jeff Hoffman was also signed during the 2024-25 off-season and had an up-and-down 2025 as the team’s closer. He had a fantastic postseason until one pitch, but lost his closer role in 2026 before eventually being traded to the Minnesota Twins.
Josh Walker also signed a big league deal, I’m not sure why as he only appeared in three games. Walker had success with the Baltimore Orioles in 2026, but it was a little bit odd that he wasn’t signed to a MiLB deal.
Funnily enough, that’s where the Blue Jays found the most success during the 2024-25 off-season. Braydon Fisher re-signed and emerged as a bullpen option. Eric Lauer pitched well (in 2025) and ate some valuable innings. Those were the two notable MiLB contracts signed that off-season, but Michael Stefanic, Ali Sánchez, Richard Lovelady, and Jacob Barnes all appeared in game during the 2025 season to varying degrees of success.
Unlike the 2025-26 off-season, the Blue Jays swung a big trade during the 2024-25 off-season. During the winter meeting, they sent Spencer Horwitz and Nick Mitchell to the Cleveland Guardians for Andrés Giménez and Nick Sandlin. A month later, the Jays acquired Myles Straw and some international free agent signing bonus pool money in an attempt to land Rōki Sasaki.
Before the start of the season, the Jays extended Alejandro Kirk, a sneaky good move for just how good the Blue Jays’ catcher has been these past few years. Of course, they also signed Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a 14-year contract worth $500 million.
2023-24 off-season
The Blue Jays have gone big game hunting the last three off-seasons. They set their sights on Kyle Tucker last off-season, Sasaki and Juan Soto during the 2024-25 off-season, and Shohei Ohtani during the 2023-24 off-season. Their pursuits the last two off-seasons didn’t impact the following season, but the same can’t be said for the Ohtani debacle.
They missed out on Ohtani, and their pivot moves saw them sign Justin Turner, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Kevin Kiermaier, and Yariel Rodríguez. Turner was traded for RJ Schreck, while Kiner-Falefa was traded for Charles McAdoo. Rodríguez was used as a starter in 2024, found success in the bullpen in 2025, but was DFA’d and appeared in just 10 games in 2026. At least Kiermaier was traded to the Dodgers and went on to win the World Series.
That off-season saw them acquire Brendon Little, who was solid in 2024 and the first half of 2025. It was the biggest trade that they made.
Notable minor league contracts include Paolo Espino, Daniel Vogelbach, and Joey Votto. The latter never appeared in a big league game for the team after hitting a Spring Training home run and tripping on a bat.
2022-23 off-season
The 2022-23 off-season was the off-season of trades for the Blue Jays. In November, they sent slugger Teoscar Hernández to the Seattle Mariners for Erik Swanson and Adam Macko. Hernández struggled in 2023, Swanson had a good season, but struggled in the first half of the 2024 season. Macko made his big league debut last season.
Two days before Christmas 2022, the Blue Jays swung another big deal, trading Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and then top prospect Gabriel Moreno for Daulton Varsho. It’s a trade that worked out for both teams, though Varsho was traded before the 2026 trade deadline.
On the signing front, the Jays added Kiermaier, Chris Bassitt, Brandon Belt, and Chad Green. Bassitt had three solid seasons with the Jays, Belt was one of their best hitters in 2023 and was a similar signing as Turner the year after, though far more successful. Green missed most of the 2023 season, but returned from Tommy John surgery in September that year. Kiermaier won the Gold Glove in centre field in 2023.
Their most successful MiLB signing in this seven year span was Ernie Clement. Before joining the Blue Jays, he was an unproductive big leaguer that had limited pop. Upon joining the team, the power improved, he became and every day player, and set the all-time record for hits in a single postseason run.
They also signed Casey Lawerence, who ate some innings for both the 2023 and 2025 Jays, and Jay Jackson. The latter finished 2023 with a 2.12 ERA in 29.2 innings of work in 2023.
2021-22 off-season
There’s a good chance that the 2026-27 off-season will be similar to the 2021-22 off-season thanks to the impending lockout. There was a frenzy before the lockout, as the Jays signed Kevin Gausman as a replacement for the 2021 Cy Young winner, Robbie Ray. Safe to say he filled those shoes.
They also signed José Berríos to an extension prior to the lockout. Acquired before the 2021 trade deadline, the extension was worth $131 million over seven years, at the time one of the largest contracts the Jays signed.
After the lockout, the Blue Jays signed Yusei Kikuchi and García for stint one. Kikuchi struggled in 2022, but made adjustments and became an important starter for the team in 2023. He had a good 2024 season before being traded ahead of the deadline.
The 2021-22 off-season also saw the Blue Jays swing a big trade, moving a package that included their first-round pick in 2021, Gunnar Hoglund, for Matt Chapman. The third baseman spent two seasons with the Jays and was one of their best power hitters in his two years with the team.
Before the start of the season, the Jays sent Randal Grichuk to the Colorado Rockies for prospect Adrian Pinto and outfield Raimel Tapia, who gave us the memorable inside-the-park grand slam in a blowout victory at Fenway.
Additionally, the Jays made some savvy moves with their MiLB contracts, signing David Phelps, Nathan Lukes, Matt Gage, and Tyler Heineman for stint #1 of 3 (so far). Phelps had a solid 2022, Lukes has become a mainstay on the team’s 26-man roster, and Gage was given far too little opportunities.
2020-21 off-season
There isn’t a better Blue Jays’ off season than the 2020-21 off-season. This was the off-season that made the Blue Jays contenders.
The big signing was George Springer, agreeing to a six-year contract worth $150 million, the largest contract signed by the Blue Jays at that point. In December 2020, the Jays signed Robbie Ray to a one-year deal. The southpaw went on to win the AL Cy Young that season.
Then before the start of the season, the Jays signed Marcus Semien to a pillow contract. Semien proceeded to slash .265/.334/.538 with 45 home runs in 724 plate appearances, finishing third in MVP voting that season.
The big trade the Jays made in the 2020-21 off-season was for southpaw Steven Matz. Serving as a backend of the rotation starter, Matz rebounded by posting a 3.82 ERA and 3.79 FIP in 150.2 innings of work.
What ultimately sank the 2021 Blue Jays, a team that were legitimate contenders, was the bullpen. They had the best offence in baseball, a solid rotation by the end of the season, but that bullpen cost them far too many games.
Before the start of the season, they brought in Kirby Yates as a high-leverage reliever, but he never pitched an inning for the team. A.J. Cole, Tyler Chatwood, and Tommy Milone were a couple of other additions they made for the bullpen.
2019-20 off-season
The reason why the Blue Jays are the team that they are today is because of one signing on December 27th, 2019. With Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette joining the team in 2019, it was time to take a step forward in their rebuild. On that day, the Blue Jays signed Hyun Jin Ryu.
Aside from a great season during the pandemic-impacted 2020 season, Ryu didn’t have great results. Their other moves, namely the signing of Tanner Roark, Shun Yamaguchi, and Travis Shaw didn’t pan out. Joe Panik and Caleb Joseph were their minor league signings, with neither player making much of an impact in the grand scheme of things.
But what the Ryu signing marked was the beginning of the Blue Jays window of contention.
Cynthia Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, DFOEdmonton, and DFOCalgary. She can be followed on Twitter @CynthiaRDelaney.