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Two seasons removed from previous sell-off, this year’s feels ‘murky’ for Blue Jays
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Photo credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
Thomas Hall
Jul 31, 2026, 23:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 31, 2026, 22:53 EDT
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TORONTO — We know the Blue Jays’ brass will, soon, put up the ‘for sale’ sign in its window a few days out from Monday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline, signalling that they’re officially open for business. What we aren’t sure of, though, is how many players they’ll sell or if they’ll also end up buying for next season.
And therein lies the uneasiness that’s percolating around the franchise right now.
“It’s kind of murky,” manager John Schneider said of his team’s uncertain fate on Friday. “I haven’t been told by anyone above me that we’re selling.”
Technically, the Blue Jays haven’t officially declared themselves as sellers quite yet. But at this rate, less than 72 hours until the trade deadline, general manager Ross Atkins will start having those types of conversations, prioritizing the returns for pending free agents like Kevin Gausman (can block trades to eight teams), George Springer (10-and-5 rights), Daulton Varsho, Shane Bieber and Max Scherzer (full no-trade clause).
Still, this season’s expected sell-off has a slightly different feel to it compared to the last time this team sold two years ago. Back then, they were considered out of the playoff mix well before the trade deadline came. The writing was on the wall — even as early as mid-June — about where their fate was headed.
The landscape of the American League was vastly different in 2024. The AL East ran through the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees. Plus, when deadline day arrived, each of the final two wild-card holders sat 10 games above .500 — while the Blue Jays were positioned seven games below, sitting 8.5 back of the third seed.
This time around, things are relatively wide open.
Nobody’s running away with anything just yet. While the Tampa Bay Rays have separated from the pack, at least from a record perspective, they don’t exactly resemble a juggernaut. Nor does any other AL club. That’s why, even when the Blue Jays — now sitting 4.5 games out of a playoff spot following Friday’s 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals — sell, they’ll only be a few good weeks away from, suddenly, jumping back into the wild-card race.
“It’s easier to kind of squint and see where you want to get to than it was in ’24, so I think that’s why it’s different,” Schneider said. “Whenever conversations have to happen, if they happen, you have them. But it definitely doesn’t feel as drastic as it did a couple years ago.”
There’s another reason this season’s trade deadline feels different: the players who’ll soon depart mean more to this city, organization and fan base than the ones who were traded in ’24 did.
Gausman, of course, is a perfect example. Springer, too. As much as neither wants to be traded, they also realize baseball is a business, and that the front office has to do what’s best for this club beyond the next two months.
Even so, that doesn’t make the situation any easier to swallow.
“Whenever it doesn’t, like, work out with a guy — if you look at a couple years ago, like [Isiah Kiner-Falefa], Justin Turner and those guys — it’s always tough because you feel like you kind of let them down, too,” Schneider said.
“I think you always feel a little bit responsible for the fact that, you know, we are in that position to move on from guys, and we haven’t kind of reached the goal collectively.”
Two years ago, Toronto’s front office completed eight trades leading up to the deadline, twice as many as the number they made last season as buyers. Where will they land this year? It’s still probably too early to tell. But there may be an opportunity to swing big, and in more ways than one.
The easy calls, more or less, likely revolve around the club’s pending free agents. Between Gausman, Springer and Varsho, that should provide them with at least three guaranteed trades.
Perhaps Bieber, despite issuing a career-high six walks and failing to make it out of the first inning in his last start against Washington earlier this week, can bring that up to four. And maybe there’s someone out there willing to take a buy-low flier on Max Scherzer. So, it’s possible by 6:01 p.m. Monday, we’re talking about four or five trades.
Any returns from those deals, however, will have a pretty high chance of netting mid-level prospects rather than ones that could impact this roster as early as next season. With part of the core cycling out here, they badly need a young, controllable piece or two in that latter category. As such, dangling Jeff Hoffman — signed through ’27 as part of his three-year, $33 million contract — along with the possibility of sending cash with him might do the trick to land such a noteworthy return.
Then, back to the idea of buying, there’s also the potential the Blue Jays pursue an impact, controllable starting pitcher, an arm capable of stepping right into the rotation and raising its ceiling for next season. With Gausman, Bieber, and perhaps Scherzer on the way out, plus José Berríos and Cody Ponce coming off season-ending surgeries, that seems like a wise decision.
As you can see, that final number of trades is pretty cloudy at the moment. One way or another, though, this roster figures to look a lot different by the start of next week’s three-game series versus the Houston Astros.
“I think that no matter what happens over the next couple of days, I want the guys to play like they did today [Friday] and have a little bit of urgency, and understand what needs to be done in certain situations,” Schneider said.

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