Blue Jays make surprising decision to trade Danny Jansen to division rival

It felt like a possibility but not ever a guarantee that the Blue Jays would trade catcher Danny Jansen at this year's deadline. The club has been obvious sellers for a while now, with an emphasis being placed on rentals, but it didn't feel likely that Jansen would be moved.

Catchers moving at the deadline can be tricky, as they have to adjust to brand new pitching staffs and it doesn't always work as seamlessly as you'd think. However, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and ESPN's Jeff Passan reported on Saturday evening that Jansen is indeed being traded. The seven-year veteran is being moved to the division rival Boston Red Sox.

As of right now, the return has not been announced. Kevin Gausman and the Blue Jays just wrapped up a complete-game victory over the Rangers, so the formal announcement should be coming in short order.

UPDATE 6:07 PM ET: One of the pieces going to the Blue Jays in the trade will be infielder Cutter Coffey. The 20-year-old hit 14 home runs and drove in 46 across 61 games for Boston's High-A affiliate.

UPDATE 7:35 PM ET: The Blue Jays have officially announced the trade. Coffey, fellow infield prospect Eddinson Paulino and pitcher Gilberto Batista are headed to Toronto in exchange for Jansen.

Blue Jays trade Danny Jansen to the Red Sox

Jansen was notably absent from Saturday's lineup against the Rangers, but that didn't initially feel like it was for any particular reason. Now, he's heading to another AL East club.

A 16th-round pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, Jansen has struggled mightily with durability issues since his big league debut back in 2018. In fact, he's only played 100 or more games one time and that came back in 2019. He's had injury issues this year as well, but he still should be able to reach the 100-game landmark for a second time this year.

In 61 games in 2024, the backstop has six home runs and 18 RBI, posting a .212 batting average, .671 OPS and 90 OPS+ along the way. He's struggled at the plate but been better behind it this year than he was last, posting a dWAR of 0.5 versus 0.2 in 2023.

On the surface, his fit on the Red Sox is a curious one, as they already have the offensive-minded Connor Wong on hand as their primary backstop and old friend Reese McGuire as the backup. Neither option appears to be going anywhere, but it's worth noting that McGuire has a 36 wRC+ dating back to April 15 (H/T to Colby Olson of Just Baseball). It'll be curious to see how exactly Jansen fits on the roster. Perhaps he'll be a third catcher and get his playing time as designated hitter.