Rewind to Blue Jays' 2024 trade deadline shows how front office dominated

The Toronto Blue Jays had an forgettable 2024 campaign. The team finished 74-88, last in the American League East and couldn't quite move past the fact that they finished second in the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes. The prior offseason was dominated by the Blue Jays' serious and oh-so-close-but-no-cigar pursuit of Ohtani. When he chose the LA Dodgers instead, the Blue Jays back up plan was underwhelming and they stumbled through the first few months of the year.

That meant at the 2024 trade deadline they could sell off some pieces with an eye towards the future. It was a very murky future at that time. The team had yet to resign Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and he and Bo Bichette were both slated for free agency after the following offseason. Some fans felt the Blue Jays should have done even more at the deadline and traded Guerrero with a year left on his contract.

The Blue Jays had also gotten back-to-back subpar seasons from George Springer, while the bullpen felt thinned out and they lacked significant depth in the rotation. With 2024 becoming a write-off the hope was that they could acquire some pieces that would help them become competitive again quickly.

Fast forward two years and almost every single one of the deals at that deadline has worked in their favour. Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins may not have liked where his team was at the time, but certainly put the work in to make sure they could come away with some quality assets during the deadline.

Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins reaping the rewards from the 2024 deadline sell-off

Starting on July 26, the Blue Jays began their tear down by shipping Yimi Garcia off to the Seattle Mariners for Jonatan Clase and Jacob Sharp. Garcia gave Seattle about nine innings of practically his worst performance as a major leaguer. In those nine innings he allowed six earned runs on seven hits.

Clase and Sharp are still trying to establish themselves in the Blue Jays system, although Clase played in 34 games with Toronto in the early part of the 2025 campaign and while he only managed a .210/.288/.300 slash line, he also came up with a couple of key hits to help the Blue Jays secure some early season wins. Sharp, is a 24-year-old catcher and is hitting .253/.315/.456 through 21 games with the Vancouver Canadians in 2026.

On July 27, they sent catcher Danny Jansen to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for three minor leaguers. One of them, Edison Paulino, is no longer in the Blue Jays' system, while the other two, Cutter Coffee and Gilberto Bautista are in Double-A and High-A respectively. While the return on this one right now seems minimal, Jansen hit .188/.323/.300 in 30 games with the Red Sox before leaving them in the offseason.

The next trade seems like it could be paying off for years to come. Atkins acquired Josh Rivera and Yohendrick Piñango from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Nate Pearson.
Piñango was called up to the big league club earlier this year and has been a part of the Blue Jays successful turn around to this point, coming up with clutch hits and batting .291/.333/.418 through his first 27 big league games.

Pearson, the former first-round draft pick of the Blue Jays looked excellent in 19 games down the stretch for the Cubs. He pitched to a 2.73 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 26.1 innings. But he couldn't replicate those numbers the following season and was released by the club in September. He signed a deal with the Houston Astros ahead of the 2026 campaign and has yet to give up a run in three games since his return to the majors.

On July 29, the Blue Jays sent 39-year-old Justin Turner to the Mariners for RJ Schreck. Schreck started the 2025 season in Rookie Ball and finished the year in Triple-A with the Buffalo Bisons. He also played for Team Israel during the World Baseball Classic and currently has a .783 OPS with seven home runs in 51 games this season. Turner wasn't bad for the Mariners with a .363 OBP and .766 OPS in 48 games, but left for the Cubs in the offseason.

Also on that day, the Blue Jays sent pitcher Yusei Kikuchi to Houston and received Jake Bloss, Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner. Wagner was moved at the 2025 trade deadline for Brandon Valenzuela. Loperfido was moved this past offseason for Jesús Sánchez. Bloss is coming off an injury and had a great outing in his first rehab start earlier this week.

On July 30, the Blue Jays moved Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Pirates for Charles McAdoo, who was just called up to the Blue Jays - and IKF also returned to Toronto in 2025. Trevor Richards was sent to Minnesota for Jay Harry who is currently hitting .344/.367/.615 with six home runs with the Vancouver Canadians in High-A.

Things can change really quickly in baseball, but as of right now, the 2026 Blue Jays are benefiting from several of the moves that were made at the 2024 trade deadline.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow