Blue Jays could benefit in sellers market after surprising Brewers – Astros trade

On Wednesday, many baseball observers were caught by surprise when the Milwaukee Brewers pulled off a pre-deadline trade with the Houston Astros. The shock element wasn’t just from the fact that the Astros appeared to be sellers despite still being in playoff contention. It was more so the fact on whom the Brewers landed in the trade with Houston. Milwaukee acquired pitchers Lance McCullers Jr. and Colton Gordon from the Astros in exchange for prospect Jadyn Fielder.

McCullers, of course, was the main attraction for the Brewers, who were looking to beef up their pitching staff for the stretch run. However, the 32-year-old veteran right-hander has struggled with consistency and injuries for much of the 2026 MLB season. Yet he still drew enough interest from the NL Central division leaders to pursue him.

The Brewers and Astros may have done the Blue Jays a favour

With that, the Toronto Blue Jays could seriously benefit if they end up being in the sellers marker following the surprising Brewers – Astros trade. After all, McCullers sported a dismal 2-3 record with a 6.86 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, giving up 30 earned runs including seven home runs, along with 22 walks and 43 strikeouts in 39.1 total innings over eight starts.

If that was enough to draw serious attention from contenders, then the assets that the Blue Jays have if they do become sellers at the trade deadline just got that much more valuable, since they would be a lot better than what McCullers could provide.

Just take for instance Toronto ace Kevin Gausman. Despite having a somewhat down year so far in 2026, Gausman’s numbers look amazing compared to what McCullers had. In 20 starts, the 35-year-old has compiled a 4-8 record with a 4.33 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, with 32 walks and 116 strikeouts in 112.1 innings pitched.

In addition, the Jays have many other key players on expiring contracts, led by the likes of Shane Bieber, Daulton Varsho and George Springer. Bieber, of course, has a Cy Young award on his resume, while Varsho is one of the best defensive outfielders in all of baseball as a former Gold Glove winner.

the Brewers are likely betting on McCullers being a big-time player in the postseason, in the past. He is a two-time World Series champion while pitching to a 2-3 record with a 3.47 ERA, 1.13 WHIP with 80 strikeouts in 72.2 total innings in 19 career playoff games. The Blue Jays could likely use the same argument for the currently struggling Springer.

He also has a strong track record in the postseason, with a career .271/.346/.534 slash line and an .880 OPS with 23 home runs and 48 RBIs in 83 career playoff games along with a World Series ring. Contenders could gamble on the veteran to provide that much-needed impact when the games matter most.

Of course, the Blue Jays will need to officially fall out of contention before they would deem themselves as trade deadline sellers. But if that ultimately does come to fruition, at least they know now that they could get tremendous value with the potential trade assets that they possess.

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