Since Ross Atkins became the Blue Jays’ general manager following the 2015 season, it’s hard to say he’s been “fleeced” in a trade. Sure, he’s had his fair share of misses, namely the Josh Donaldson debacle, but that was more due to poor timing and awful injury luck. Most trades end up in the “didn’t win/didn’t lose” pile.
A good example of the “didn’t win/didn’t lose” pile were their three trades with the St. Louis Cardinals ahead of the 2023 trade deadline. They acquired Jordan Hicks for Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein, Paul DeJong for Matt Svanson, and Génesis Cabrera for Sammy Hernandez.
The Hicks trade was fine, even though the Jays lost in the wild card series. It appeared that the DeJong trade aged poorly, as Svanson posted a 1.94 ERA and 2.72 FIP in 60.1 innings pitched last season, but he’s off to a rough start. Hernandez is an intriguing catching prospect, but he’s played just 16 games this season after an unremarkable 2025 season.
One other move has kicked off a promising trade tree that has paid dividends for the Blue Jays already. Their biggest trade at the 2024 deadline saw them send Yusei Kikuchi to the Houston Astros for Jake Bloss, Joey Loperfido, and Will Wagner.
One of the more savvy moves Atkins and the Jays have made in recent years saw them trade Wagner to the San Diego Padres ahead of the 2025 trade deadline. In return, they got their catcher of the future in Brandon Valenzuela. Due to Alejandro Kirk’s injury early in the season, that future has come much sooner than expected, and Valenzuela has flourished since the call-up.
The set of trades ahead of the 2025 trade deadline have really paid off for the Jays. Shortly before the deadline, the first domino fell, as the Jays sent Juaron Watts-Brown to the Baltimore Orioles for Seranthony Domínguez. That trade worked out well for the Blue Jays, as Domínguez served as the set up man down the stretch and was fine in the playoffs.
But Atkins’ trade with the Minnesota Twins before the 2025 trade deadline may go down as his best move. Moments before the deadline, they sent Alan Roden and Kendry Rojas to the American League Central team for Ty France and Louis Varland.
Both Rojas and Roden have had strong seasons. Rojas is doing so in the big leagues, as the lefty has a 1.26 ERA and 3.43 FIP in 14.1 innings pitched. A 1.26 ERA is terrific, but Varland’s 0.33 ERA ranks as the best for any pitcher with 14 or more innings pitched. The hard-throwing righty has a 1.16 FIP to boot, as well as years of team control.
Those are just the trades stemming from trade deadline moves. During the 2024-25 off-season, the Jays made two trades with the Cleveland Guardians. The first saw them trade Spencer Horwitz and prospect Nick Mitchell for Andrés Giménez, who is providing vital defence at shortstop.
About a month later, the Jays acquired $2 million in 2025 international signing bonus pool money. They had to take on Myles Straw’s contract to get the trade to work, but that alone has been a win of a trade. Straw provides good defence, strong at-bats, and is an important member of the locker room dynamic by all accounts.
Sure, they didn’t land Rōki Sasaki, the whole reason why they traded for the extra IFA bonus pool money, but it allowed them to sign additional prospects, including Korean right-handed pitcher Seojun Moon. Who knows how he’ll develop.
Since joining the Blue Jays for the 2016 season, Ross Atkins may have yet to swing for the fences at the trade deadline like Alex Anthopoulos did in 2015, but savvy moves over the years have made this team a contender for most of the 2020s.