Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins commented on the trade deadline, including keeping several veterans on the team’s roster.
The Blue Jays made several trades ahead of the MLB trade deadline, including trading away Kevin Gausman and acquiring Jose Soriano, among others.
However, while the team traded several players, they also kept George Springer, Max Scherzer, and Shane Bieber, despite all three players having expiring contracts.
Ross Atkins Comments on George Springer
Speaking to Blue Jays reporters following the team’s deadline moves, Atkins revealed that the reason Springer was not moved at the deadline was that the veteran DH wanted to stay in Toronto.
“It was important for him to be here. We wanted him here as we continue to push forward,” Atkins said.
While Atkins did not confirm if the Blue Jays had a trade in place for Springer, it is worth noting that Springer has 10-and-5 rights in his contract, meaning he has a no-trade clause.
It’s possible, then, that the Blue Jays came to Springer with a potential trade and he nixed it since he wanted to stay in Toronto, but ultimately, we don’t know.
Either way, Springer’s contract expires at the end of this season, and with him turning 37 and on the decline, it’s unlikely that he’s back in Toronto next season.
Blue Jays GM Speaks on Max Scherzer & Shane Bieber
As for Scherzer and Bieber, two veteran starting pitchers who have struggled this season both in terms of results and health, Atkins said that the team didn’t feel it was necessary to trade either former Cy Young Award winner.
“We felt that, because we have so much support here, it wasnât necessary that we trade them,” Atkins said.
Again, we don’t know if another team even made an offer to the Blue Jays for either veteran pitcher, given how poorly both of them have pitched this season for Toronto. But regardless, they are with the Blue Jays for the season’s stretch run.
Though unlikely, the Blue Jays will still try to make a late postseason run, though it certainly won’t be easy to accomplish.
According to Atkins, the Blue Jays still feel like they have a chance to win this year, though the GM admitted that the team is obviously not in the position where he felt like they would be before the season began, given the team nearly won the World Series last season.
“I believe this group is still going to compete and we have added some pieces that will allow them to compete … We feel like we have added some impact pitching to our group,” Atkins said.
We’ll see what the Blue Jays do this offseason, as the team will look to rebound from a bad year and get back to where they want to be after 2026 has been a miserable year all around for a team with a high payroll that was expected to be a World Series contender heading into the season based on last year’s World Series run.
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