The Toronto Blue Jays enter the 2026 season with extremely high expectations. After all, the club recently came within one game of winning its first World Series title in over 30 years. Although they did lose star infielder Bo Bichette in free agency, Toronto helped offset the departure with a few key additions. This includes giving starting pitcher Dylan Cease a $210 million contract and landing Japanese slugger Kazuma Okamoto.
Replicating a potent offense from a year ago is a concern for the Blue Jays heading into 2026. Although they did score the fourth-most runs in baseball in 2025, Toronto was not among the league leaders in home runs. A potentially bigger worry for the club is its bullpen. Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins attempted to strengthen his group of relievers by acquiring Tyler Rogers and Spencer Miles in the offseason.
Despite this, The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon believes that Toronto could use more help in this specific area. In fact, the Blue Jays’ beat writer is predicting that the club will eventually target Bryan Abreu from the Houston Astros. “Toronto will roster some intriguing options in the bullpen, but the group lacks big fastballs and significant swing-and-miss. Houston Astros reliever Bryan Abreu brings both,” writes Bannon.
“If the Jays need a high-leverage arm at the trade deadline (and what competitive team doesn’t?) Abreu, a pending free agent, may be the top option on the market. After sniffing around the top relievers at last year’s deadline, the Jays could make the bullpen splash this summer.”
Toronto Blue Jays Would Love to Acquire Bryan Abreu
GettyBryan Abreu has been a big piece of the puzzle for the Astros.
As Bannon points out, Abreu is scheduled to be a free agent after the 2026 season. He previously avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $5.85 million deal with the Astros. It is safe to assume that the star reliever will be looking for a fairly significant pay raise in the near future.
Abreu has been one of Houston’s most reliable relief pitchers over the last four seasons. He was previously immense in the team’s 2022 World Series triumph. In that postseason, the flamethrower did not allow a single run in over 11 innings of work. He also struck out 19 of the 43 total batters that he faced en route to the championship.
With Josh Hader on the injured list, Abreu will be Houston’s closer to start the season. According to Baseball Savant, the veteran’s four-seam fastball averaged 97.3MPH throughout 2025. This was a slight increase in velocity compared to the previous campaign. Abreu posted a 2.28 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 71 innings with the Astros a year ago.
All Eyes in Toronto Will be on Current Closer
While the Blue Jays would love to have a pitcher like Abreu in the bullpen, so does every other MLB team. Because of this, and assuming he continues to perform in Houston, there could be a bidding war for his services this summer. Toronto CEO Mark Shapiro recently claimed that the club is not afraid to make major moves, though.
The team’s potential interest in Abreu, or any other top reliever, will likely depend on how their bullpen handles the start of the 2026 season. A ton of eyes will be focused on current closer Jeff Hoffman in the coming months. The veteran pitcher endured an inconsistent 2025 campaign in the role. Further issues in 2026 could lead to a big change.
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