Deadline catcher market shows Blue Jays could have cashed in on Brandon Valenzuela

The Toronto Blue Jays did not need to trade Brandon Valenzuela at the deadline, but it's clear there was a market that develop among the contending teams.

Valenzuela, still in his rookie season, has given the Blue Jays meaningful production behind the plate, and there is obvious value in keeping a young catcher who has already shown he can handle major league pitching. Depth at that position is not easy to find, and Toronto has spent enough years trying to stabilize its roster to understand why holding onto a useful catcher can be the safer play.

But at this year's deadline it became apparent that competent catching was an asset contenders were willing to pay for. The Blue Jays had a potential trade chip hiding in plain sight with the 25-year-old.

That does not mean Toronto should have shopped Valenzuela aggressively or taken the first decent offer. It does mean the front office had every reason to at least understand what kind of return he could have generated in a market where teams kept proving they were willing to move real pieces for help behind the plate.

The Los Angeles Angels acquired minor league catcher Jacob Cozart from the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for outfielder Jo Adell, a right-handed power bat with enough upside and team control to make the deal especially interesting from a Blue Jays perspective.

Adell was not a perfect fit, and his overall offensive profile looks like it could be risky. But he is exactly the type of player Toronto could have used this season, a right-handed outfielder with power and contractual control beyond this season. Adell won't reach free agency until 2028 and his 16 home runs would be the second most on the team behind Kazuma Okamoto's 24.

Putting Adell in a platoon with any of the Blue Jays' left-handed hitting outfielders could have worked wonders. He's hitting .303/.339/.571 with 10 of his home runs coming against south paws.

If a catching prospect was enough to headline that kind of swap, it is fair to wonder what Valenzuela might have brought back if the Blue Jays had made him available.

The Boston Red Sox also made a major move for catcher Adley Rutschman. Boston paid a significant price to land the former Orioles cornerstone, with Baltimore receiving a package that included right-handed pitching prospect Anthony Eyanson, catcher Carlos Narváez, right-handed prospect Kyson Witherspoon, outfield prospect Enddy Azocar and a player to be named later.

Adley Rutschman deal gives Blue Jays a value check on Brandon Valenzuela

Valenzuela was never going to command the same kind of return as Rutschman, and framing it that way is generously unfair. Rutschman is a former No. 1 overall pick, a three-time All-Star and a bigger name with a longer big league track record. But the Red Sox-Orioles deal still reinforced the idea of how teams viewed catching as a premium position worth addressing aggressively.

The Blue Jays should now understand just how much value Valenzuela could have in the coming years. He checks several boxes contenders tend to value. He is young, inexpensive, controllable and already contributing at the major league level.

The Blue Jays also had a unique reason to listen on offers for Valenzuela. Alejandro Kirk is locked in until 2031. He is Toronto's long-term answer behind the plate. Valenzuela may be useful, but if another team viewed him as more than a complementary piece, the Blue Jays had to at least consider whether his greatest value was on their roster or in a trade.

The catcher-driven market rode a wave throughout deadline day. The Chicago Cubs acquired right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn from the Angels, but the cost included catcher Moisés Ballesteros and pitching prospect Mason McGwire. Ballesteros was once one of the Cubs' more notable young bats, and even if his defensive home remains a question, the Angels still turned a bullpen arm into a young player with offensive upside who has experience behind the plate.

The Tampa Bay Rays also moved catcher Hunter Feduccia and right-hander Jacob Kmatz to the Los Angeles Dodgers for outfielder Jack Suwinski and other considerations. That was not a blockbuster, but it still showed how quickly catching depth could become part of solving a problem at the deadline as the Dodgers needed protection behind the plate, and the Rays had a movable catcher.

That is the context that makes not moving Valenzuela so interesting. The Blue Jays did not make a mistake by keeping him but considering the deals that were out there, and the fact they have a strong number one catcher in tow, it's an interesting non-move.

Of course the last time they moved a rookie catcher that looked like a solid long-term piece was when they dealt Gabriel Moreno to the Arizona Diamondbacks and a large section of the fan base was a little befuddled over the move as Moreno's potential seemed off the charts. The return in that deal was Daulton Varsho who, ironically, was moved at this years deadline to the Houston Astros.

As Valenzuela continues to develop in the Blue Jays' system behind Kirk, it will be interesting to watch if a move comes this winter that lands Valenzuela elsewhere before the 2027 season.

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