The Blue Jays and outfielder Daulton Varsho have avoided arbitration, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. Varsho will make $10.75MM this year in his final season of club control. He’s a free agent next winter. That tops the $9.7MM figure projected by the algorithm of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz by a margin of just under 11%. Varsho is repped by ISE Baseball.
The 29-year-old Varsho came to Toronto in the 2022-23 offseason via a trade sending then-top prospect Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. back to Arizona. A converted catcher, Varsho has been a premier defensive center fielder from the jump and has seen his offense improve on a year-over-year basis in Toronto. After a rough start in ’23 (.220/.285/.389), Varsho hit .214/.293/.407 in 2024.
It was the 2025 season, however, where his bat truly took off. Recovery from offseason surgery delayed his season debut until late April, and he missed nearly two months of the summer due to a hamstring strain. But despite being limited to only 71 games and 271 plate appearances, Varsho belted 20 home runs while batting .238/.284/.548. He chipped in 13 doubles and a pair of triples, and his glovework in center field remained elite. Varsho went on to pop three more round-trippers in 81 postseason plate appearances.
Varsho’s agreement pushes the Blue Jays to a payroll of about $281MM, per RosterResource. Their $309MM worth of luxury tax obligations put them into the top tier of penalization, though Toronto is still reportedly in pursuit of further free agents — including incumbent infielder Bo Bichette and top free agent Kyle Tucker. The Jays will pay a 110% tax on any subsequent additions to the payroll due to that $309MM figure, but franchise-record levels of spending don’t appear to be a deterrent on the heels of Toronto’s run to Game 7 of the World Series in 2025.
Fair settlement…
Now extend him for another 3 years or so
make sure he can still throw first
You misspelled trade.
Boras would never let that happen
I’d be cautious about that. He’s been hurt a lot the last couple years, and an injury in his 30s could easily knock his speed down a few notches and render him instantly mediocre. The vast majority of his value is his defense (unless you believe he’ll continually replicate last year’s half-season of offense). Definitely let him play out this year before making the commitment.
Varsho reminds me of peak Vernon Wells in CF mixed with Denzel Clarke. He’s an absolute vacuum cleaner always in the right spot but can do so acrobatic stuff if necessary. If he can have the power he had last year stretched out over the full season he’s gonna be another 200million ish player
He reminds me of a mix of Jose Cruz Jr and Colby Rasmus.
Jose Cruz Jr could throw
So could Varsho before coming back early from major shoulder surgery
No he couldn’t. He was always a noodle arm. He was super noodle arm after the injury and hopefully he’ll get back to his normal noodle self next year.
Last year statcast had him at 5th percentile arm strength.
The prior two seasons he had 40th percentile arm strength. That’s still pretty bad, although clearly a lot better than 5th percentile.
Varsho’s arm was such a rocket he was put in left field.
He did not come back early.
Varsho had a bad arm before the injury. His arm is worse than Juan Pierre after it. Cruz had an elite arm and had 18 assists in 2003.
Yeah, it was an ex-Blue Jay, underachiever CF joke. Cruz had a nice arm, wasn’t elite. His assists were a by-product of being tested constantly as opponents underestimated his throwing ability. Much like teams testing Varsho in 2023.
Cruz had an elite arm. He made those throws from RF.
Nothing like wells varsho is a lot and hits for a very low average
Jays will only pay 90% on top for tax purposes. They aren’t in the 3rd consecutive year for penalty payment. 90% or 110%, it’s still loads of cash! lol
I thought he was represented by Scott Boras
He is, unless he changed recently. He switched to Boras a year or two ago.