6 Blue Jays who won’t be back next season after disappointing 2026 campaign

With the Toronto Blue Jays now on the sidelines the work toward next season begins. Heading into the offseason, there’s no doubt that Toronto will be looking for some wholesale changes to get the team back into legitimate contention for 2027.

But that won't happen with this same group of players returning next season. The Blue Jays will look very different from this season as these six players have likely played their last game with Toronto.

Blue Jays will have quite a roster shuffle before the 2027 season opens

*All stats as of Thursday, Sept. 25, 2026

P Max Scherzer

It would have been a remarkable way to end his illustrious career had Max Scherzer helped the Blue Jays avenge their World Series loss. Unfortunately, injuries and inconsistency dominated his season. He pitched to a 3-9 record with a 6.14 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, giving up 53 earned runs with 61 strikeouts in 77.2 innings pitched in 17 starts.

Even though Scherzer gave a valiant effort towards the end of the season with a string of solid outings, it was too little too late. The 42-year-old will likely be calling it a career. Scherzer still made his mark and left Blue Jays fans with some lasting memories.

RP Paul Sewald

As a post-trade deadline pickup by the Blue Jays, Paul Sewald was actually one of their most reliable relievers down the stretch for Toronto. After struggling with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Sewald put up an astonishing 0.68 ERA, 0.68 WHIP, giving up just one earned run with nine strikeouts in 13.1 total innings of work in 16 appearances for the Blue Jays.

However, he has had an ERA that mainly hovered over 4.00 during the past three seasons and will turn 37 next year as well. Toronto will likely go with a younger, proven effective relief option such as Adrian Morejon or Alex Vesia in free agency to complement their current core of Louis Varland, Trevor Rogers, Mason Fluharty, Braydon Fisher, Brendon Little and Spencer Miles to round out their bullpen.

P Shane Bieber

When the Blue Jays dealt for former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber at the 2025 trade deadline for pitching prospect Khal Stephen, it appeared to be a huge steal at the time given Bieber’s potential to be a legitimate difference maker for the club. However, after one and a half seasons with Toronto, he would make only 18 total starts between 2025 and 2026 as he dealt with ailments that limited his ability to take the mound more consistently for the Blue Jays.

When Bieber was healthy, he posted a respectable 9-4 record with a 4.03 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, together with 81 strikeouts over 96 innings pitched for the Jays. Despite some flashes of his former Cy Young form, it sometimes felt that it came few and far in between as Toronto will likely move on.

P Jameson Taillon

In what could have been a feel good story for Jameson Taillon coming home to Canada to pitch for the Blue Jays, he would have trouble staying on the mound as injury woes would end up defining Taillon’s tenure with Toronto. The 34-year-old veteran right-hander would make only three starts after a July trade with the Cubs. He compiled a decent 3.60 ERA with eight strikeouts in 10 innings of work.

With Taillon having his right forearm and elbow inflammation flare up twice in his short stint with the Blue Jays, Toronto will likely look for less of an injury risk in free agency.

RP Yimi Garcia

When the Blue Jays brought back Yimi Garcia during the 2024-25 offseason, they totally expected the 11-year veteran to help anchor their bullpen for at least two seasons. But like most of the players that we have touched on already on this list, injuries would become a major obstacle for Garcia to overcome as well as he was limited to just 22 appearances in 2025 while missing the entire 2026 season.

To make matters worse, he was recently diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome and underwent surgery in August and will be out indefinitely. Hopefully, Garcia could follow the path of Zack Wheeler in recovering from that condition and be able to continue his big league career afterwards.

DH George Springer

Finally, we have one of the Blue Jays’ main offensive leaders for the past six years in George Springer. Having helped Toronto to three postseason berths during his time with the organization, Springer has done his part in giving it all on the field. Most notably, his epic three-run home run in Game 7 of the ALCS against the Seattle Mariners last year will go down as one of the biggest hits in franchise history.

However, Springer has displayed worrisome declining numbers in two of his past three seasons with the Blue Jays, making his surprise 2025 Silver Slugger campaign more likely a one-off than a turnaround. Whether Toronto wants to use the designated hitter role as a flex position to rest regular starters or rather for someone that could put up consistently strong power numbers, Springer unfortunately no longer fits the bill.

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