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Gabriel Moreno's Silver Slugger nomination another strike against Blue Jays' Daulton Varsho trade

After a batting title and a second Gold Glove, the former Blue Jays prospect adds another reason for why the 2022 deal has backfired on Toronto.
ByMatthew Sookram
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Sep 13, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno (14) reacts after missing a pitch against the Texas Rangers in the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
Sep 13, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno (14) reacts after missing a pitch against the Texas Rangers in the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Gabriel Moreno's 2026 season already includes a National League batting title and his second Gold Glove. Now the former Toronto Blue Jays' prospect is a Silver Slugger finalist, and it's another reason the Daulton Varsho trade has backfired on the Blue Jays.

FanSided exclusively announced the finalists for the 2026 Louisville Silver Slugger awards last week with the winners set to be announced Tuesday, November 17 at 6 p.m. ET, live on the Baseball Insiders podcast. Moreno's top competition is Colorado's Hunter Goodman, the reigning winner.

It's a power-versus-average race between these two NL West rivals. Moreno hit .311/.388/.486 with 16 home runs, 33 doubles and 83 RBI in 130 games, and led all qualified MLB catchers in average, on-base percentage and OPS. Goodman hit 41 homers with 88 RBI, but his 115 OPS+ maybe shows how much Coors Field helped that slug.

It's the cherry on top of what was a career year for the 26-year-old Moreno. He became the first Diamondback to win a batting title, edging Philadelphia's Luis Arraez (.310) by a single point. He's also the first catcher to do it since Buster Posey in 2012. What helped was that he was healthy and set a new career-high for games played after his last two seasons where he finished with under 100 games played.

The Daulton Varsho trade ledger keeps tilting toward Arizona

The Blue Jays sent Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to Arizona for Varsho on Dec. 23, 2022. In fairness, the trade did deliver an American League pennant for the Blue Jays. Varsho also won a Gold Glove award in 2024 and hit .238/.284/.548 with 20 home runs in 71 games in 2025. He also came up clutch in the ALDS against the Yankees when he had a a huge Game 2 at the dish, going 4-for-5 with two home runs and four RBIs.

Then in 2026, Varsho (and many other Blue Jays) collapsed. Varsho hit .243 with Toronto and .172 with Houston after the Blue Jays traded him on August 3 for Spencer Arrighetti. Arrighetti would post a 6.35 ERA in 22.2 innings while Varsho had wrist surgery on Sept. 29 and elected free agency on Oct. 29. Gurriel hit .210 in 51 games and was designated for assignment on Sept. 13. Varsho produced 12.0 bWAR since the trade, a total Moreno had passed even before his 6.7-bWAR batting-title season.

Varsho is a free agent now, and Jim Bowden predicts a one-year, $8 million deal. Toronto has been linked to a reunion, and with an offence that struggled to score in 2026, a cheap return could make sense. But if Moreno wins that Silver Slugger award on Nov. 17, it might be better off for the Blue Jays to just wash their hands and admit they made a mistake in that deal.

While the Blue Jays' catching depth is still an area of strength and it's not as if they needed Moreno to be their full time backstop, it does feel like a wasted asset. Hindsight is always 20/20, but knowing how Moreno turned out, the Blue Jays probably could've dangled him in a trade deal for a better return.

Whether or not Moreno takes home the Silver Slugger hardware this year, the verdict on the trade is getting harder to argue.

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