Kevin Gausman’s blunt Blue Jays comments reveal bigger cost of losing Bassitt and Bichette

The Toronto Blue Jays of 2026 aren't having a bad season because Chris Bassitt and Bo Bichette are no longer in the room. That would be far too simple, and probably far too generous to a team that has dealt with injuries, inconsistency and underperformances.

But when Kevin Gausman, who has been around just about as long as anybody else, starts talking openly about the Blue Jays not being “nearly as close-knit” as they were a year ago, it becomes much harder to ignore what Bassitt and Bichette may have taken with them. The Blue Jays may have lost two of the personalities who helped keep the group connected when things got difficult.

During a recent appearance on the Toronto Star’s Deep Left Field podcast with Mike Wilner, Gausman offered a clear assessment into what he has felt has been different around the Blue Jays this season. The veteran right-hander said the team is frustrated, annoyed and mad, but he still believes in the players and staff in the room. Then he went a step further.

“I don’t think we necessarily have the characters we’ve had in the past,” Gausman said. “Max (Scherzer) hasn’t been around as much. I think losing (Chris Bassitt) was maybe a little bit bigger of a loss than we all thought it would be.”

Ernie Clement, whose future with the Blue Jays is also in question at the trade deadline, echoed that idea when speaking with Wilner, pointing not only to Bassitt but also to Bichette as the kinds of players any clubhouse would miss. “(Bassitt) and Bo (Bichette) are two guys who had been around,” Clement said. “They knew how to win. Any clubhouse wants guys like that and misses guys like that.”

The Blue Jays may have underestimated what left with Bassitt and Bichette

Bassitt was never the ace of the Blue Jays’ rotation, but that was also part of his value. He was a consistent competitor and put up the numbers you would hope a guy in the middle of the rotation can put up. He also may have been a catalyst to the turn around from 2024 to 2025. He was very focal about the Blue Jays not "having a plan after they didn't sign Ohtani" during that offseason. He added, "I think we do a lot of things right here [in Toronto] ... but I don't want to identify the problems because some of the problems I don't think are fixable."

But the Blue Jays clearly heeded his words and went about constructing a team that could be way more competitive. The results worked in 2025. Some of that was thanks to a better offseason plan. Some of that was thanks to an emergence from within with guys having better seasons, staying healthy or even some contributing above their expectations.

One of the players that had a huge turnaround from '24 to '25 was Bichette. Bichette was not just a productive player when healthy, but he was one of the defining faces of the previous Blue Jays era, having been around for the rise of the club’s young core.

Losing a voice like that has clearly left another gap that could not be filled this season. No front office can build a roster entirely around vibes, and the Blue Jays had tough decisions to make on where they need to spend their money. Still, Gausman’s comments have revealed that Toronto may have calculated the on-field cost of losing Bassitt and Bichette better than it calculated the clubhouse cost.

Last year’s group had a clear personality while this year's group never really got a chance to build one as the injuries piled up out of the gate and lot's of different faces came in and out of the clubhouse.

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