Blue Jays will regret letting this player go at the trade deadline

When the Toronto Blue Jays anted up at the trade deadline to acquire the necessary pieces to bolster their roster going forward, they had to part ways with quite a few top prospects to get the deals done. As they say, you have to give up quality in order to get quality. However, among all of the moves that the Jays made, there was one that actually seemed a bit puzzling to say the least.

That trade was the one in which Toronto dealt promising infield prospect Will Wagner to the San Diego Padres in exchange for catching prospect Brandon Valenzuela. Yes, the depth at the catcher’s position is lacking a bit within the Jays organization. However, to give up another prospect with such high potential just didn’t make too much sense. Which is why the Blue Jays will eventually regret letting Wagner go.

Blue Jays will regret letting Will Wagner go at the trade deadline

It wasn’t too long ago when the Jays fleeced the Houston Astros in the Yusei Kikuchi trade at last year’s deadline. In the return package, it netted Toronto with three promising young players in Wagner, Joey Loperfido and Jake Bloss. The biggest surprise was that Wagner became the first of the three to demonstrate his value at the major league level with the organization.

With Loperfido struggling initially with the Jays and Bloss yet to make his debut with the club, it was Wagner who quickly provided a huge impact for Toronto after his promotion to the big leagues in August of last year. The 27-year-old made a great first impression by hitting .305 with a .788 OPS, along with eight runs scored, six doubles, two home runs and 11 RBIs in 24 total games played. Just for good measure, he set a Jays rookie record for most hits in a game with five on August 31 against the Minnesota Twins. Wagner was named by MLB.com as the Blue Jays’ Rookie of the Year candidate heading into the 2025 season. 

Although Wagner struggled initially to start his 2025 campaign with Toronto, he came back stronger and more polished after a successful stint in the minors to fine-tune his game. Since returning towards the end of June, the 27-year-old infielder batted a solid .291 with a .772 OPS, together with nine runs scored, five doubles, five RBIs, seven walks and just 11 strikeouts in 64 plate appearances over 20 games played.

More importantly, Wagner appeared to show that he had made the proper adjustments to handle MLB pitching effectively once again and could begin to flourish going forward. Unfortunately, he won’t get that opportunity to do so with the Jays after his trade to the Padres. 

As for what Toronto received in return, Valenzuela has struggled to hit for average since moving up to Double-A and beyond. This season, he has compiled just a .228 mark with a .693 OPS in 92 minor league games split between the Jays and Padres organizations.

Valenzuela has hit for some power, as shown by his 12 home runs and 47 RBIs to date. However, he currently doesn’t even rank among the Jays top 30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline. So for someone that is likely turning out to be a future backup catcher in the MLB, the cost of giving up a fast-rising player in Wagner seems a bit too steep to pay.

Wagner may not become the next Jeff Kent for the Jays, but if he comes anywhere close to it, it will be one of those moves that Toronto will sincerely regret down the road. At least in Kent’s case, David Cone helped the Jays capture their first ever World Series to help make the deal a little more palatable overall.