The Blue Jays are among the teams to contact the Pirates about right-hander Mitch Keller, reports Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. They’re the latest in a growing number of clubs reported to have interest in the 29-year-old righty, who’s also drawn looks from the Yankees, Mets and Cubs. Keller is signed through the 2028 season.
Keller’s fit with the Blue Jays is natural in many ways. Toronto will see right-handers Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer reach free agency at season’s end, vacating two spots in the rotation. Kevin Gausman is signed for only one additional year and will be a free agent in the 2026-27 offseason. Right-hander Jose Berrios has an opt-out clause in his contract that allows him to reenter the free-agent market in the 2026-27 offseason as well. Fifth starter Eric Lauer, who’s been a godsend in Toronto after signing a minor league contract, is controllable via arbitration through 2026.
[Related: Toronto Blue Jays Trade Deadline Outlook]
Adding a steady arm like Keller, who’s in his prime and affordably signed for three additional seasons, has to hold appeal for the Blue Jays — particularly given the number of pitching injuries they’ve seen among their prospect class and other young arms in recent years.
Left-handers Ricky Tiedemann and Brandon Barriera and right-handers Jake Bloss, Landen Maroudis and T.J. Brock have all undergone UCL surgery within the past 15 months. Lefty Adam Macko had knee surgery in February and has been roughed up for 23 runs in 25 Triple-A innings upon returning. Former AL Cy Young finalist Alek Manoah is still on the mend from last year’s UCL procedure and is only controllable through the 2027 season. Bowden Francis has been unable to replicate last year’s late-season showing and has now been out more than a month due to a shoulder impingement.
The Jays still have some notable young arms. Right-handers Trey Yesavage and Khal Stephen, their top two picks in the 2024 draft, are enjoying strong years in their first full professional seasons, and several lower-level arms have made big strides in 2025 but might still be a few years away (e.g. 2022 19th rounder Gage Stanifer, 2020 international signee Kendry Rojas). On the whole, the pitching group has still been hit with a broad range of injuries.
Keller is being paid $15MM this season — just $500K less than the Jays paid to sign the 40-year-old Scherzer to a one-year deal in free agency this past offseason and the same amount secured by older starters Justin Verlander, Charlie Morton and Alex Cobb. Keller is then owed a combined $54.5MM from 2026-28. Added to the remainder of this year’s salary, Keller has almost exactly $60MM yet to be paid out for his three-plus seasons of club control. The Jays have $184MM on next year’s books, which is $70MM less than their current payroll level.
[Related: Pittsburgh Pirates Trade Deadline Outlook]
It’s an eminently affordable rate for a pitcher of Keller’s quality. While he’s not an ace, he’s a former second-round pick and top prospect who has blossomed into a steady mid-rotation arm and could be seen by some other clubs as a pitcher with a bit of yet-untapped potential. Several Pirates pitchers — Gerrit Cole, Tyler Glasnow, Joe Musgrove, Clay Holmes among them — have found new gears upon being traded to other organizations over the years, after all, and Keller is also enjoying his most successful season to date.
Through 20 starts and 119 innings, Keller has pitched to a career-best 3.48 earned run average. His 18.7% strikeout rate is a career-low, but his 5.5% walk rate is a career-best. There are some red flags, as Keller’s 93.9 mph average fastball is down a half-mile compared to last year and down 1.3 mph from his 2023 levels, but his heater has slowly gained a bit of life as the season has worn on. He’s also allowing a bit more hard contact than usual and experiencing pretty good fortune in terms of homer-to-flyball ratio; his 6.7% mark in that regard is well shy of the 11.8% he carried into the season.
Even with a bit of ERA regression, however, Keller would still be a solid value at his current price, and there’s always the chance that the change in scenery unlocks another gear as well. For a Jays club that could plausibly see every current member of its rotation come off the books by the end of the 2026 season, a July acquisition of Keller would not only fortify the current roster but also represent a bit of proactive shopping.
Toronto also has a number of near-MLB position prospects who could intrigue a Pirates team that’s bereft of quality young hitters — Alan Roden, Josh Kasevich, RJ Schreck, Jonatan Clase and Will Wagner among them. Not all of those names are of the caliber to be a headliner in a Keller deal, and the Bucs won’t necessarily focus solely on young hitters in a trade, but the two parties align on a potential Keller swap in many ways.
Sell the team, Bob.
Nobody wants to buy the team and keep it in Pittsburgh.
***Mark Cuban has entered the chat
Cuba stated a year or so ago that the best thing that happened for him was that he was unsuccessful in buying a baseball franchise. He said MLB has a horrible financial model and not worth having a team unless it is one of the handful of large market teams.
actually Cuban said it would be foolish for Nutting to sell the team calling it a cash cow for Nutting
Actually what Cuban did was ask the question “Why would anyone want to pay over a billion dollars to become the most hated person in Pittsburgh?” To me this means he would operate the team the same way as Nutting.
That’s the thing mlb fans don’t get. These billionaires didn’t get rich by investing in crappy investments. Didn’t they make 500 million in 10 years sure but they could have made 5 billion if they invested in something else that’s how billionaires think.
Cuban is a fraud and a phony.
Actually Cuban has said he would love to own his hometown Pirates
Go to another board please! You always start stupid stuff! Negative all the time about Pittsburgh!
I think the Pirates can be contenders for a World Series Championship with a payroll under $100 Million.
I’m negative about the people who trash the team for not spending significantly more on payroll in a bad market for baseball like Pittsburgh.
You’ll have to learn to deal with opinions and facts with which you disagree. I’m here to stay.
we go through this every time there’s a rumor about a Pirate available for a trade and you get started about how bad of a market it is for the Pirates.
So it’s worth repeating, PNC Park only holds 38,000 people. They will never draw the same amount of people as large market teams
Jays stadium capacity is 39,150 that’s one of the biggest markets.
You have stated you’re trolling posts over and over…why don’t you troll the As
He has no life.
I’m happy. My life is filled with peace and love and joy.
And you cannot refute the fact that Pittsburgh is an historically bad market for baseball.
baring any upcoming trades.. pirates are looking around 90m this year. 2016 was about to the 100m mark and that was when the team started falling off compared to their 98 win season before.
Its about talent not cash, granted cash can bring in players with established mlb presence. the franchise won’t dump money into something unless they’re reasonably sure they can compete and even then probably not much of a splash.
side note to other comments: IIRC the team is locked in PNC for the next handful of years due to the stadium deal.
Give your BS posts a break..pirates aren’t going anywhere even if they are sold
Whenever the Nutting-haters yodel-moan about Pirate payroll or post “sell the team”, I will post the facts which show that Pittsburgh is an historically bad market for baseball.
Bub From Belle Vernon agrees with u chuck
Once they sign a pitcher, who do they actually send to the bullpen… and why will no one say Max Scherzer?
I wouldn’t trade Keller for all five of the Blue Jays prospects who are mentioned in this article.
ok – I mean they did mention 5 hitters and a bunch of pitching prospects…
The Pirates have plenty of pitching prospects and the hitters who are mentioned are not worth Keller.
Cherington has said that he only wants major league ready position players with several years of control
Which means Keller ain’t going to the Jays
You already have those guys. High floor platoon/bench types already on the 40 or needing a spot this offseason. They’re akin to Horwitz and Triolo.
Probably why you’re not a GM. Probably…
Look up the stats of the five Blue Jays players who are mentioned in the article.
He already feels like a blue jay
BREAKING: Every contender in on every available starting pitcher & high leverage reliever.
As well every super utility guy
and every relief pitcher.
@rememberthecoop
I knew it. I’m expecting a Q drop later today.
I could see Arizona jumping in just for the future since they are losing starting pitching at the deadline
I like Keller fine. But he feels like a guy who is super valuable over a 162 game season but not really much of an improvement on the flat structure of the current rotation in a postseason series. Stylistically, he just feels like a younger better Chris Bassitt. But better enough to displace Bassitt from a postseason roster? That feels like a difficult conversation. I feel like Keller upgrades a rotation that is top heavy with a steep drop off after the first couple of guys more than a team like the Jays who have a full rotation of mid rotation type guys.
I’d be much more interested in Keller as an offseason acquisition if he doesn’t move at this deadline. Though in the offseason, you could probably explore free agents before trading for Keller’s contract which is a decent deal but not way below market rate.
You got to get to the post season before worrying about the post season roster.
Sure. Don’t be last year’s Twins. But is 10 starts of Keller that much better than 10 starts of Lauer? I suppose Lauer could find a role in a bullpen and be swingman depth because the Jays’ real weakness in the starting pitching department is non roster depth and that’s really hard to trade for at the deadline so bumping someone to a swingman role is possible. But their postseason odds are so good that I’d rather start fortifying the bullpen and that helps down the stretch as well as in the postseason much more than adding another mid rotation starter. For the price of Keller, I’d prefer just to get one of the rentals and put the extra resources into a bat or reliever that can impact any game. Everything is price dependent of course. I just think Keller’s value is spread out over a bunch of years and that rightfully makes the acquisition cost fairly high while similar value packages could land a player with less control but more immediate impact. And that’s where teams contending for a division championship and are likely to get into the postseason even if they fall short of the division should be shopping.
Agreed market is flush with 4/5 types. It’s really setting up for a .500 team to really take advantage of and everyone is going to be like why didn’t my .500 team make these moves. Too big of a risk for a 1% chance.
Keller #2
Has only failed to go 5 innings 1 time. Has only given up more than 3 runs 3 times.
Smart gms will be looking for things like that. This guy is likely to give me 6 innings only allowing 2 runs.
They also aren’t concerned about what he is doing with mid pitching development loser toxic environment Pittsburgh but with what he could do with their team.
Bassitt is free agent. You want to bribe by over paying a older guy in free agency or trade for the younger cheaper better pitcher.
Makes sense, add depth to a strong rotation, add Lauer to the bullpen. Keller replaces Bassitt in ’26. But if the Jays dont include Nimalla, the Pirates can do better getting SP prospects from the Cubs.
Nimalla would be the only player that gets the trade done in my opinion. Its a good one for the Blue Jays. Nimalla, Lazaro Estarda or Robinson Pina, and Brandon Barriera would be a nice return but have to get the bat. Nimalla and Barriera are the two players to get from the BlueJays.
The control on Keller adds a wrinkle, but I don’t think he should be worth either of Nimmala or Yesavage. The only name that’s been floated around that those two should be considered a trade chip for is Joe Ryan imo.
Keller is a Sonny Gray clone. Gray got 3 and 75M in his age 32 season. Adding Keller in his age 30 season for 3 and 55M is a 20M+ discount.
The big kicker is having Keller in the rotation this season. It moves Lauer to the bullpen. You get a bullpen arm too.
I’d think you have to trade Nimalla and if I’m the Pirates, Id be asking for Barriera too, knowing how important a player like Keller could be to the Jays run at the WS.
@jdgoat
Do a comp with Berrios. Pitching about the same, except more years of controll. The Jays gave up 2 top 100’s to get Berrios. Ryan is pure fantasy. Better pitcher. Years of control under arb. Nimmala and Yesavage aren’t even close.
Berrios is worse than Keller. Bassitt as well. I posted this above but here it is again. Fans don’t realize how good Keller is.
Keller #2
Has only failed to go 5 innings 1 time. Has only given up more than 3 runs 3 times.
Smart gms will be looking for things like that. This guy is likely to give me 6 innings only allowing 2 runs.
They also aren’t concerned about what he is doing with mid pitching development loser toxic environment Pittsburgh but with what he could do with their team.
It’s his talent. It’s that he could be even better. It’s his contract. It’s his durability. Why every single team is interested in Keller. Good dude as well and will be a fan favorite.
Also why he probably won’t be traded. I would normally say that except Bob Nutting is so stupid they might. Like why is Williams Cherington still employed running the team? Pirates are capable of anything.
Bucs need MLB ready bats in this trade to compete in the Skenes window. Bucs have plenty of young arms. Nimalla wont arrive soone enough and Barreura is redundant in their system.
You are dreaming in technicolor if you think Nimmala is getting traded for anything short of a superstar player.
@BeenThereDoneIt
A Top 10 prospect won’t get you a superstar. Nimala is ranked in the 40’s/50’s.
I’m interested in at least one team going beyond interest and actually doing something. Yawn.
Royals Adam Frazier but tbis deadline and the next will be just like every other one. Not much happening until final few days.
Keller and Bednar to Philly for Justin Crawford, Jean Cabrera, and Otto Kemp.
Pirates don’t need prospects, just cash considerations.
Get that cash Hillbilly Bob.
Some players they are happy with you just taking them and their contract.
Keller and Davis for Cronenworth, Ornelas, Campusano, and a prospect in the 20-30 range.
(I do think Davis will eventually hit btw)
Pirates wouldn’t at least shouldn’t be interested in any of those players and you are getting Andrew Heaney.
Why bother? The Mets will probably send Vientos or Baty with a few extra parts to get him.
I don’t think that the Mets are interested in Keller. Just my opinion but I think if they acquire a starting pitcher, it’ll be a rental and not someone with additional control.
They already have the following SP under contract for next season: Senga, Manaea, Peterson, Montas, Holmes, Megill. That’s six. Plus Christian Scott returning from injury. Further, they have a lot of young arms who could be ready either out of gate next season or could be at some point: McLean, Sproat, Tong, Tidwell.
So six guys with extensive MLB experience as a starter, one young pitcher returning from injury, and four more potential starters in the minors. Given their financial position with regards to the CBT, I don’t think adding another $20 million for a ~#3 starter like Keller makes much sense. I think they’ll roll with what they have and fill in with prospects as needed due to injury.
A lot will depend on how things go down the stretch. Maybe Montas blows up. Maybe Holmes falls apart and gets sent to the bullpen. Maybe Megill returns and is awful. But those are questions that won’t be answered until after the trade deadline and would affect their moves in the offseason.
Keller is #2 and will only make 20m his final year.
Trade Deadline Update!! Every contending team is interested in Mitch Keller.
This is such an Atkins trade.
Like the Berrios trade he will give up more in perceived prospect value than the fanbase prefers and it will sorta work out OK if lackluster.
Fans wanted him fired
No thanks Blue Jays, don’t need another weak hitter from your organization like we have at 1B.
Addison Barger says hello!
GB85
Love his bat but not his glove, Cutch has DH locked up.
Keller has turned into a pitcher instead of a thrower. Not sure the Jays have anyone that the Bucs would want in return, however.
The capacity of PNC Park has nothing to do with Pittsburgh being a bad market for baseball.
Even when the team was one of the best in baseball, the Pirates weren’t selling out 81 games per year and turning 10,000 people per night away from the turnstiles.
In 2015, the Pirates reached the playoffs for the third straight year and won 98 games, the second most in MLB. But their attendance was just Ninth of the fifteen teams in the National League. They drew fewer fans that season than the 68-win 94-loss Brewers, who play in a market that is 900,000 people smaller than Pittsburgh.
This year’s Colorado Rockies, who are Fifty games under .500, are drawing more fans to their park than the Pirates have in all but three of the seasons in their 140 year existence.
When the Pirates won their division for the third straight season in 1992, they couldn’t sell out the National League Championship Series.
In 1979, when the Pirates won the World Series, their attendance ranked Tenth of the Twelve teams in the National League. That year, the Pirates played the Reds in the NLCS. The Reds, who play in a similar size market, drew 2.3 million fans. The Pirates drew 1.4 million.
Pittsburgh is an historically bad market for baseball.
Yesterday, wiith Paul Skenes pitching on a beautiful night,attendance at PNC Park was just 19,379.
The 24-76 Rockies are drawing 29,823 fans per game this season.
after being swept by the White Sox, the worst team in baseball, over the weekend, fans aren’t likely to attend any game with the knowledge that this team stinks and not worth spending money to see.
Colorado draws fans because in the summer, there’s not much to do around Denver
“Yesterday, wiith Paul Skenes pitching on a beautiful night,attendance at PNC Park was just 19,379”
They’re 40-61 and ownership has shown zero desire to put a competitive team on the field in a decade. That should clue you in on the attendance numbers.
Also, if you’re comparing, the Nats have an almost identical record (40-60). They’ve got a handful of exciting young players, including one of the best young players in the game in James Wood. Their attendance yesterday? 15,558. Is Washington a bad baseball town to you?
He’s not capable of logic.
The 24-76 Rockies are drawing 29,823 per game without Skenes. The Pirates drew 10,000 less than that with Skenes pitching.
Pittsburgh is an historically bad market for baseball.
Those years you referenced earlier were played at 3 Rivers Stadium, a cookie cutter venue similar to Veterans and Riverfront stadiums
They historically have drawn more at PNC Park and when they were fielding competitive players, attendance was much higher
Richard you need to get off mlbtr and get yourself an education son. Like right now. Go.
You see Denver has over double the population of Pittsburgh. What’s the nearest team to them? How many of the 30 teams sell out all 81 games?
Being a smaller market may be a reason why Pittsburgh is a bad market, but it doesn’t refute the fact that it is a bad market.
From the list of hitters they mention, not one of them seem like a decent headline to come back. Even multiple of them I feel is questionable. All of them maybe and one will probably pan out but that seems silly to send that many back
From the prospect pool: Martinez seems like the best option for the pirates but he’s been stinking it up in AAA,
Nimmala seems like an out there option, Not ideal for the Pirates given hes a bit away from the MLB and the Jays probably don’t want to let him go.
IMO Jays getting him would probably have to be a bit creative maybe adding a thrid team to the mix
Of course could always just trade Vlad for Keller. Would take the pirates offense from nearly the worst to being .. well still nearly the worst. LOL (joking of course)
Maybe a off season trade. Maybe Cherington or hopefully new gm like the 2025 draft pick.
Hopefully new GM. I was skeptical he was a fit for Pittsburgh’s restrictive budget but his scouting background gave me hope. Probably won’t know how that works out until after he is gone.
IKF available? Wouldn’t mind a versatile veteran bench guy who doesn’t rock the boat down the stretch.
IKF is expected to be traded this week
The most available player in all of baseball.
I don’t see them trading Keller at all. They will ask for too much and these teams will go elsewhere. Pirates only priority is trading the 4 expiring contracts. They aren’t really worried about anything else. Not sure they are even capable of trading the 8-10 players that keep getting mentioned in these rumors.
To br honest in a against trading Keller. His record could easily be 10-3 instead of 3-10.
They have other depth pitchers to trade. Besides I wouldn’t trust cherrington in any trades.
Besides they don’t hit for skenes and keller.
Got to get rid of anyone with a salary North of $4 million a year. Bob needs that money in his pocket. Worst owner in professional sports.
He may need to shed payroll just to keep the team from losing money – like they did last season.
dkpittsburghsports.com/team/site-stuff/feed?page=0…
It’s comical that you believe that.
You can’t disprove the findings of that thorough, four-month-long investigation that was led by a man who had previously criticized the Pirates for not having a higher payroll and expected to find that the team was making a significant profit.
His findings make perfect sense, given that the Pirates play in an historically bad market for baseball that was in the bottom half of the National League in attendance even when the team was on of the very best in baseball.
Let’s get more light hitting guys from them like Horowitz. He’s not terrible but is a borderline starter and not a good 1B offensively. Keller is very good and on an affordable deal. Don’t be dumb.
I remember some blabbering fool hyping up that trade for Mr OPS.