With the Blue Jays scouring the bullpen market, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports that Luke Weaver is one of the many relievers on the Jays’ radar. Weaver temporarily served as the Yankees’ closer in 2025, but would presumably be used just in a high-leverage capacity by the Jays, and probably isn’t viewed as a candidate to supplant Jeff Hoffman in the ninth inning (unlike other Jays targets Robert Suarez or the newly-signed Dodger Edwin Diaz).
MLB Trade Rumors projected Weaver for a two-year, $18MM contract, and we ranked the right-hander 41st on our list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents. He posted a 3.62 ERA, 7.6% walk rate, and 27.5% strikeout rate, with very strong chase and whiff rates accompanying that impressive K%. However, Weaver’s 2025 season was a Jekyll-and-Hyde campaign built around a three-week absence in June due to a hamstring strain.
Weaver had a 1.05 ERA over 25 2/3 innings prior to his stint on the injured list, and then a 5.31 ERA over his final 39 innings of the season. If the regular-season woes weren’t enough, Weaver was then charged with five earned runs over what was officially just one-third of an inning pitched over three playoff appearances — the Jays themselves contributed to this misery by scoring three runs off Weaver without a batter retired in their 10-1 rout in Game 1 of the ALDS.
The long ball was a big part of Weaver’s problem, as eight of his 10 home runs allowed in 2025 came following his IL stint. His 27.5% grounder rate was one of the worst in the league, and well below the 38.7% grounder rate he’d posted over nine previous big league seasons. The big question facing the Blue Jays or any other suitors is whether or not this susceptibility to home runs is a new reality for Weaver, or either a lingering after-effect of his hamstring injury or perhaps just because of some tipped pitches.
As Nicholson-Smith notes, spending huge money on a closer probably isn’t an ideal situation for Toronto’s front office, so Weaver represents an option a tier below Suarez’s asking price. Beyond signing a reliever, another option would be to add bullpen help via the trade market, and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon write that the Blue Jays “are considering” the idea of trading an outfielder for a reliever.
Nathan Lukes, Myles Straw, Joey Loperfido, “and a few others” are candidates for such a deal. Presumably this would mean minor league depth options like Jonatan Clase, and not presumptive starters like Daulton Varsho, Addison Barger, or Davis Schneider. (The Blue Jays probably wouldn’t mind moving Anthony Santander, yet Toronto would have to eat a huge chunk of Santander’s remaining contract in the aftermath of his injury-marred down year.)
Lukes was a part-timer over his first two seasons with Toronto, but emerged as a regular in 2025, hitting .255/.323/.407 over 438 plate appearances (103 wRC+). The left-handed hitting Lukes primarily played against right-handed pitching, though his splits were only somewhat better against righties than lefties. Lukes can play all three outfield positions, and has delivered passable glovework in center field while excelling in corner outfield roles.
Outfield-needy teams could certainly view Lukes as a candidate for at least strong-side platoon duty. He is also controllable through the 2030 season as a probable Super Two candidate when he gains arbitration eligibility next winter, though the late-blooming Lukes is already 31 years old. The 26-year-old Loperfido is another player with long-term control since he has barely over a full year of MLB service time, and after he hit .333/.379/.500 over 104 PA for the Jays in 2025, rival clubs might be keen to see what he could do with more playing time.
This winter’s center field market is thin enough that Straw could be viewed as a glove-first starter. Straw has never been much of a hitter throughout his eight MLB seasons, but posting a 91 wRC+ in 2025 (from a .262/.313/.267 slash line over 299 PA) counts as a relative surge by Straw’s standards. Some teams will view that as an acceptable level of offense from a player who can deliver Gold Glove-worthy defense in center field.
Straw is the most expensive of this trio, as he is owed $7MM in 2026, and the Blue Jays hold an $8MM club option on his services for 2027 (with a $1.75MM buyout) and an $8.5MM club option for 2028 ($500K buyout). As per the terms of the trade that brought Straw from Cleveland to Toronto last winter, the Guardians are covering $1MM in salary this year and will pay $1.75MM towards either the 2027 buyout or salary.
A $6MM immediate price tag for a superb defensive center fielder isn’t outlandish, and it is a testament to Straw’s bounce-back year that he has regained some value after being a salary dump for the Guardians last offseason. Beyond just the statistics and the salary, however, Rosenthal/Sammon note that Straw’s reputation as a great locker room leader must be valued by both trade suitors and the Blue Jays, given how close-knit Toronto’s clubhouse was during their playoff run.
It makes for a difficult tightrope for the Jays to walk this winter, as while the team obviously wants to retain their 2025 magic on and off the field, some upgrades are needed. Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce are already big new additions to the pitching staff, and beyond the possibility of a Bo Bichette reunion, signing a Kyle Tucker or an Alex Bregman would bring an entire new dimension to the lineup. Nicholson-Smith suggests that if all of Bichette, Tucker, and Bregman signed elsewhere, Toronto wouldn’t necessarily feel the need to seek out another prominent hitter, as the team has trust in its core. Such a decision would carry some risk, as the Jays would be hoping Santander regains his old form, and the rest of the lineup continues basically its team-wide breakout performance.
Jose Berrios’ situation has also been a subplot of Toronto’s offseason, as the Blue Jays are reportedly open to trading the veteran starter, though that’ll be a tricky endeavor considering Berrios’ down year and the three years and $66 remaining on his contract. There have been rumblings that Berrios isn’t happy with his status with the team, as he was removed from the rotation late in the season and (ostensibly due to an injury) wasn’t part of the playoff roster. According to The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon, Berrios hasn’t requested a trade.
GM Ross Atkins shared some details on Berrios when speaking with Bannon and other reporters on Monday, saying Berrios was indeed “disappointed that he wasn’t in our rotation. He handled it well….We’re never going to have a situation where we have 40 players or even 26 players that are feeling great about the opportunity that they were given.” The Blue Jays still view Berrios as a starter going into 2026, and rotation depth might be critical given how Shane Bieber isn’t necessarily a lock for Opening Day due to late-season forearm fatigue.
Seems like Myles might draw the short straw on this one.
This is the first article that I’ve seen promoting Straw as the starting CF option that I thought more people would have been talking about by now.
As for Berrios, would an even-money change-of-scenery deal swapping Berrios for Kodai Senga make sense for either the Blue Jays or the Mets?
While Straw’s defense is excellent, the offense is just a little too inconsistent for him to be a viable starter. The role he had in 2025 is probably his ideal usage. He makes for a great 4th outfielder and as mentioned is good in the clubhouse. I can’t imagine anyone would offer enough to make it worth moving him. He’s probably worth more to the Jays than any other team.
What team would trade a useful bullpen arm for one year of Straw, even if Toronto paid down most of his ’26 salary? The other two OFs mentioned hold much more trade value
Maybe a higher priced bullpen arm from a team looking to cut payroll. I could see a year of a good defensive CF bringing more back this year due to the thin market.
To be fair Straw put up 2.9 WAR in around 300 PA. His CF defense brings considerable value.
Berrios floor is too low for that trade to me. Blue Jays would need to add more.
That’s enough sir! That’s the last Straw!
I will miss you Dream Weaver.
Someone, please take Davis Schneider….free, no strings attached.
Do yourself a favour. Go back and watch the 2025 MLB season. You seemed to have missed most of it.
After a tough year and a bit, Davis rebounded and carved out a niche as a useful utility man who can sub in against lefties either in left field or at 2nd and has provided roughly league average d at either position. He’s not a full time starter as the article strangely seems to imply, but he’s a useful member of the team.
Yeah, Davis is not a problem. A bench platoon bat with some power – who is cheap. You get rid of him and then are just looking for the same player.
I’m fine with getting someone below the so called “closer” group. If they assemble enough high leverage arms someone will emerge.
Schneider’s season started by him spitting the bit out at the beginning. Was a “gotta do something” call up, he didn’t earn it by lighting up AAA. He then forced the team to have to get IKF because he is not a legit MLB second base man defensively. Did a decent job in the out field in picked spots with elite support out there. His real value is at second, and he is not great at playing second. Better than me or you but….
To make this team on the bench out of spring you should have to bring something above average or have future promise. Neither of which he brings in my opinion. I think he will be a guy who goes to a bubble or rising team and they get a good year or two or three stretch but I want someone better as my 23/24 guy on my roster right now and don’t want him anywhere near second base. Nor is he “developing” so ideally he has to make the team by bringing something other than what he has been. Or be at his very best from March 1 on. I totally see him as a “needs to play guy” but we can’t afford his process catching up with his results.
Do yourself a favor, rather than snark back at someone just hate posting and watch the game with your heart and analyze it with objective eyes. He really is just a guy and not moving the needle. Did we miss Santiago Espinal? Did he really move the needle? How about Gurriel? Jansen? Stop overating your players like a leaf fan. For the Jays to succeed they will need better from him or have to find a better fit.
In less than 200 PA He put up 1.3 WAR, hit 11 HR, and had a .797 OPS. That’s solid production for a guy making next to nothing. He also does well against righties, so he’s capable of filling in against both lefties and righties if needed.
You’d pay a lot more for that on the open market than what he’s making. These are the types of guys from your minor league system that help keep your payroll down by not having to fill those spots from free agency.
He makes this comment on every Jays article. Let’s stop enabling his trolling by responding.
I would sign Bregman, fairbanks and suarez and call it a day. try to move berrios but it will be tough
Who do you think you are? The Dodgers?
Cold LA
You Sir are fired as imaginary GM. Pack up your things. Security will escort you out.
We do not want Bregman. He will be 32 next season and will need a long term (5 to 6 yr) expensive deal. 3B dont tend to age well and he is showing signs of decline.
Plus the Jays have Barger and Clement who can handle the position just fine.
You don’t know how many years hes going to get and I feel like he will age better than Bo for similar production.
So I would put clement at 2B and Barger in RF
You’re fired
Barger is better off at 3rd. His fielding in right is pretty ugly. His arm saves his overall defensive value out there, but he looks especially awkward going back on balls. He mostly just runs back to the wall, jumps, and hopes the ball hits his glove.
@Canuckleball
Agreed. While Barger’s 400-ish innings in RF represent about a third of a season, his -4 DRS/OAA are pretty bad. Both Santander and Springer have better DRS/OAA in 1200+ innings (a full season) in the OF.
It was his first time playing RF pretty much ever, very little experience in the minors.
Find me an infielder that figures it out first year. Most converted OFs take atleast a season full of reps to figure things out.
We saw down the stretch after Bo got hurt and he was out there every day it was much improved. Fielding data is absolutely useless in this small of a sample size
Why would I have to find an IF that figured it out the first year? How about I find an OF that is an OF, BRB.
Ok back. You would be surprised at the amount of OF’s I found that are OF’s.
When Barger’s numbers are worse than Santander’s and Springer’s, even in a small sample, it doesn’t bode well for the players continued playing time at that position.
The Diamondbacks had a catcher that in 550 innings had a -11 DRS. Small sample size, really bad numbers and they never tried him at catcher again. He plays CF for they Jays now.
If your argument is just give him a chance and he maybe gets better then I suggest using Kirk in the OF. He has a pretty good arm too. But that’s ridiculous…. Isn’t it.
You’re comparing moving the slowest runner in the league in to the OF to a player who was used down the stretch to win a division and make it to the World Series who made multiple impressive plays and was throwing guys out at home plate with ease. If he was so bad why didn’t they use Straw out there or Loperfido? Your first point makes no sense when they have already actively relied on an IF to figure it out, they have every opportunity to put a life time OF out there
Santander’s sprint speed is under 10th percentile while Barger’s is 56th. You using small sample size data of a first time outfielder who was mostly used sporadically vs a lifetime outfielder who has 5000 innings of data is the ridiculous part.
Great point about Varsho though, thanks for confirming that players can move to the OF from the infield and find success.
@Dustyslambchops23
You completely missed the point of the Varsho analogy so let me get micro. Bad results in small sample sizes, while not compulsory are certainly indicative of worse results in larger sample sizes. Varsho sucked at C so they moved him off the position. Barger sucks in RF so move him off the position and put him at 3B where he is at least average.
You complain about the use of small sample sizes while providing a couple of examples of good plays? C’mon man, you’re better than this.
I agree!
Bregman just doesn’t fit as a Jay.
He had his chance last off season….
James MacArthur for Joey Loperfido.
While it’s unclear what Loperfido’s trade value is right now, I’m quite certain it’s greater than a single busted pitching prospect. Joey provided quality offense when he got a chance last season, but there were so many bodies in the outfield that the Jays couldn’t find time for him. His lack of playing time was not because of poor results.
Bring Luke back to the Yanks or have him go to–checks notes–the Reds!
Weaver on Toronto would be security if they don’t get another guy. They still go with Hoff in that scenario, but you’d have a fallback with a little experience.
They also have Yimi García coming back, another high leverage arm who has been effective for them when healthy.
If they can’t get a true closer, then a sold back 4 of Louis Varland, Yimi García, Jeff Hoffman, and a guy like Weaver could make for a solid high leverage core.
Definitely a real good core.
“ The long ball was a big part of Weaver’s problem” Call me crazy, but the Blue Jays pitching staff as a whole had long ball issues. Shouldn’t they be targeting guys who keep the ball in the yard since that seems to be the missing trait? Weaver feels like more Chad Green and Jeff Hoffman. It’s not like his HR issues have been limited to this season either.
I would say sign Buchette, Tucker, Suarez and then trade Berrios and Gimizez
No way they have the money for all that. On top of what it would take to sign those 3, They’d have to eat a lot of the contracts of both Berrios and Gimenez to move them.
@Canuckleball
Yep. Giminez is making starter money for being a bench player.
They need to find out, one way or the other, if Bichette is going to come back or not. They are handcuffed in the infield until that is figured out. It will also affect whether or not Tucker is in the game plan. As much as people think, they will not be getting both Tucker and Bichette. I am beginning to think that the Jays valuation of Bichette is lower than Bichette wants and others are giving him better offers.
I think the Bichette sweepstakes are being affected by how he sees his own positioning. If he still sees himself as a SS, that may be limited his options. I think most potential landing spots probably see him at 2b, though we have no way of knowing how that’s playing out. I also have a feeling that the Jays see him at 2b. If Vlad moved from 3b to 1B, Bo can move too for the good of his team and his career. I also think Tucker is their number 1 target over Bo.
Vlad still got paid after moving too
Lukes is probably the only one of that group with any real trade value. The fact that the Jays continue to struggle to attract free agents is telling after the World Series and Dylan Cease overpay.
Someone else here suggested trading Berrios for Senga; change of scenery trade that may or may not do anything for either team but might be worth the gamble for both sides
Where exactly have the Jays struggled to attract free agents this year?
Lukes is the guy most likely squeezed out of a role no matter what addition they make on the offensive side. I feel like he fits a big ballpark where his contact approach and
line drives can find grass and where you need good defensive corner OFs. The Royals are the club I want to put him on. And I like some of their relievers. They all seem to have three pitches and keep the ball in the park (low barrel and hard hit rates so it’s not just a Kauffman mirage it would seem). Loperfido is similar in that he’s an athletic corner OF. Has more upside with some raw power but not as much floor as Lukes.
Schneider might not have as much platoon opportunity depending on who they add and he seemed even a bit underutilized. He raked against righties when he was allowed to face them though those matchups were maybe carefully selected. Still, he gets on base and he gets to barrels. His barrel rates have been excellent every year. He doesn’t have top end raw power to go out to all fields but did go oppo a few more times last year. Put him in Cincinnati and I think he could produce a ton in a more regular role than he has been trusted with in Toronto. Not sure what the return would look like. But the Jays need starting pitching at the upper minors and I know the Reds are in a good spot for starters at least on the major league end.
I don’t think the money is as much of an issue. After this season you drop Gausman, Springer, Straw and Bieber – that’s 72 MM. You will still have Satander, Tucker, Varsho, Barger for outfield and DH and Cease, Ponce, Yesavage in the rotatation. So most of the savings can be banked and bring you back from this years high.
@rapsforever
Because Barger can stand in the OF it doesn’t mean he can play the position. He does have a good arm but so does Kirk. Kirk isn’t an OF either.
There is an error in this story. Straw’s slugging percentage in 2025 was .367, not .267.