Blue Jays: Recapping the trades Ross Atkins has made as a seller at the trade deadline
Photo credit: © Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Jul 31, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 31, 2026, 13:46 EDT
Come 6:00 PM ET this coming Monday, the Toronto Blue Jays will look much different than they do now.
After falling short of the World Series by just four strikes, the Blue Jays enter their series against the St. Louis Cardinals with a 50-59 record. While they’re just five and a half games back of the final wild card, they haven’t looked like anything they did last year.
Ultimately, they’ll end up selling, with the big question being how many players they’ll look to off-load. It’s not the first time that the Blue Jays have sold at the deadline since Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro took over back before the 2016 season. In fact, it’ll be the fifth time.
Let’s take a look at the other four times the Jays have sold ahead of the trade deadline since 2016.
2017
Like 2026, the 2017 Blue Jays weren’t technically out of the race. That season, the deadline fell on July 31st, with the Blue Jays making two of their three notable trades on that day. Entering July 31st, the Jays were seven games back of the final wild card with a 49-56 record, albeit with a -85 run differential, second-worst in the American League. In hindsight, they probably should’ve had a large sell-off here, but they didn’t.
Leading up to the deadline, they sent Ryan McBroom to the New York Yankees for Rob Refsnyder, a rather small deal as Refsnyder hadn’t become the player he went on to become. On deadline day, they sent Joe Smith to the Cleveland Guardians for Thomas Pannone and Samad Taylor, two players who have appeared in a big league game this season.
However, the most noteworthy trade came shortly after, when the Jays shipped Francisco Liriano to the Houston Astros for Nori Aoki and Teoscar Hernández. Liriano was on an expiring contract and was acquired by the Blue Jays just a year prior. Hernández is Hernández, enough said. That trade tree as a whole is pretty darn good.
The Blue Jays had a good start to August, going 10-5 to return to three games below .500 entering a series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Entering that series three games behind the final wild card spot (with a handful of teams to jump), the Jays were swept and departed the Windy City five games behind the wild card spot.
2018
The Jays started the 2018 season quite well, amassing an 18-13 victory over their first 31 games, albeit due to a rather weak schedule. By July 31st, that year’s trade deadline, the Jays were well out of the playoff race and sold once again.
Their biggest move before the deadline came on July 26th, seeing the Blue Jays send J.A. Happ to the New York Yankees for Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney, likely less than what they would have got for him at the deadline before. He was also on an expiring deal.
That same day, they sent Seunghwan Oh to the Colorado Rockies (yes, they were buyers at one point) for Chad Spanberger, Forrest Wall, and a player to be named later. Later, that PTBNL turned out to be Bryan Baker, the Tampa Bay Rays’ current closer. Oh was on an expiring deal like Happ.
The day before the trade deadline, the Jays sent the recently reinstated Roberto Osuna to the Astros for David Paulino, Héctor Pérez and Ken Giles. This move had external circumstances, but Giles worked out quite well for them.
Reliever Aaron Loup, on an expiring contract, was sent to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jacob Waguespack on July 31st. They also sent John Axford to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Corey Copping, two rather insignificant moves.
There was another played on an expiring deal who was not moved, at least before the 2018 deadline. In fact, Josh Donaldson was moved to the 60-day injured list on July 31st, and wasn’t traded for another month.
His value was so low that when the Blue Jays traded him on August 31st on the waiver trade deadline (something that no longer exists), all the Jays managed to get from the Guardians was Julian Merryweather. Had Donaldson been moved the year prior, the Jays would’ve gotten a much better return.
They also sent veteran Curtis Granderson to the Milwaukee Brewers for Demi Orimoloye, a minor move that didn’t impact the team at the big league level.
2019
There was no hot start to the season for the 2019 Blue Jays, nor was there potential for contending for a wild card spot in the summer. The 2019 Blue Jays were just bad. And aside from the 2021, 2022, and 2025 Blue Jays, they were the most fun team to watch in the Atkins/Shapiro era.
Was it a good deadline? Not really. Since Atkins took over, the Blue Jays have a tendency not to trade players with term remaining, a trend that is likely to carry into the 2026 deadline. They finally did move a player with term before the 2019 deadline, Marcus Stroman, acquiring Simeon Woods Richardson and Anthony Kay in return.
But they failed to trade Justin Smoak, who was on an expiring contract. Giles also was at his peak trade value with an extra year on his deal, but no trade came and he pitched in just four games in 2020 before a season-ending injury. He appeared in just four games in 2022 with the Seattle Mariners, and hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since.
A few more expiring contracts were moved. David Phelps was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Thomas Hatch. Another reliever, Daniel Hudson, was traded to the Washington Nationals for Kyle Johnston, with Hudson recording the final out of the 2019 season to win the World Series.
Unlike the 2018 season when the Blue Jays were heavy sellers, the Jays made a move for the future, sending Aaron Sanchez, Joe Biagini, and Cal Stevenson to the Astros. In return, they acquired Derek Fisher, who still had some potential after being drafted 37th overall in 2014. He never reached that potential.
2024
Of the trade deadline moves already covered, only Hernández and Woods Richardson were of note, and the latter only because he was packaged to the Minnesota Twins for José Berríos before the 2021 deadline.
By 2020, the Jays started to sign free agents to help their young core of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. They had limited success from 2020-2023, and by 2024, everything went wrong and the team were sellers once again.
Of the four and soon to be five seasons where the Blue Jays have sold at the deadline, the 2024 deadline was the lone time they had a fire sale. Basically every player on an expiring contract was traded, and even two players with term were moved.
Reliever Yimi García was the first on the way out (for a few months) as the Jays shipped him to the Seattle Mariners for Jonatan Clase and Jacob Sharp. A few days later, the two teams made another trade, as the Jays sent Justin Turner to the west coast team for RJ Schreck.
The second trade made saw the Jays send soon-to-be free agent Danny Jansen to the Boston Red Sox for Cutter Coffey, Gilberto Batista, and Eddinson Paulino. They also managed to get something for Trevor Richards as well, trading him to the Minnesota Twins for Jay Harry, who has broken out this season.
They did right for Kevin Kiermaier, sending him to the Dodgers for Ryan Yarbrough, giving the centre fielder a ring before he retired.
Their most notable move involving a soon-to-be free agent saw them trade left-handed starter Yusei Kikuchi to the Astros for Jake Bloss, Joey Loperfido, and Will Wagner. Both Loperfido and Wagner have since been traded, with the Jays acquiring Jesús Sánchez and Brandon Valenzuela respectively.
The two players with term who were sold were former top 100 prospect Nate Pearson, as well as Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Pearson, traded to the Cubs, landed the Blue Jays Yohendrick Piñango and Josh Rivera, a trade that has already made an impact on the 2026 Blue Jays. Kiner-Falefa was sent to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Charles McAdoo, another player who made his debut this season.
What to expect from the 2026 trade deadline
Coming into this season, expectations were high for the Blue Jays given how the 2025 season ended. They’ve failed to live up to those expectations, in part to injuries, but also due to a drop off in performance from several key players.
Now ahead of the August 3rd trade deadline, the Jays are considered sellers by most. Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Daulton Varsho, and George Springer are all on expiring contracts, as is Max Scherzer. It wouldn’t be a shock to see most of these players moved.
There are also a handful of players with additional years on their contract who get moved. Jeff Hoffman has had a strong season, despite what his ERA reads. Myles Straw has a team option next season, but is a candidate to be moved, as is Sánchez. Even Tyler Rogers hasn’t been safe from trade rumours, though that seems less likely.
Of course, the Blue Jays don’t plan on a full rebuild given Guerrero Jr. just entered a 14-year deal worth $500 million. It’s not inconceivable to see the Blue Jays sell for the short-term, but also buy for the 2027 season and beyond by acquiring a player with years of team control.
It’ll be interesting to see what they do before the deadline.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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