Playing GM: 4 Moves to Complete the Toronto Blue Jays Roster for 2026

Continuing our Playing GM series, we take a look at the reigning American League Champion Toronto Blue Jays.

Every offseason, Peter Appel, Aram Leighton, and Jack McMullen, the hosts of the Just Baseball Show, conduct a series of episodes pinpointing offseason moves for all 30 teams.

We’ve seen the New York Mets and Washington Nationals already; the Baltimore Orioles and Blue Jays were the subject of the second episode.

The Orioles got the front half of this episode, the Blue Jays the latter.

It’s a unique position they find themselves in this winter, however. Especially considering how active they’ve already been. In response to pushing the juggernaut Los Angeles Dodgers to the brink in the World Series, they were proactive in reloading in the offseason.

It started with signing former San Diego Padres ace Dylan Cease. They then fortified their bullpen by adding submarining right-hander Tyler Rogers, then took an aggressive gamble on the top KBO free agent Cody Ponce. But the job isn’t done.

How will they proceed with shortstop Bo Bichette? Will they be aggressive in pursuit of outfielder Kyle Tucker? Peter Appel and Aram Leighton give you the four moves needed to complete this Blue Jays offseason.

1. Trade Jose Berrios and Joey Loperfido to the Angels

With all of Toronto’s activity with its rotation, Berrios is lost in the shuffle. This organization already jettisoned Yariel Rodriguez, who made 21 starts for them in 2024 and 66 appearances in 2025. Now, with up to three years and $67 million owed, Berrios finds himself on the chopping block.

The 2025 season wasn’t kind to him, but he was 18th among MLB-qualified starters in ERA the previous two seasons.

The Angels are assembling the Avengers of former Blue Jays: Alek Manoah, Yusei Kikuchi, Jordan Romano. Why not add Berrios to the rotation, absorb the entire contract, and add an intriguing young outfielder in Loperfido?

The 26-year-old outfielder arrived in Toronto in the Kikuchi trade with Houston in 2024.

His first impression with the Jays wasn’t great (61 wRC+), but his 2025 sample certainly was (148 wRC+). However, with George Springer, Davis Schneider, Anthony Santander, and Nathan Lukes, the pathway to playing time in MLB is hard to navigate for Loperfido.

The Angels have an opening in the outfield after trading Taylor Ward to Baltimore in November.

In return, the Jays acquire right-hander Ryan Johnson, a 6-foot-6, 22-year-old. He started and finished his MLB stint last year with rough outings, but sandwiched in an 11-outing stretch with a 2.19 ERA, a 50% ground ball rate, and a 24.1% strikeout rate.

The Angels did what the Angels do and streamlined him to MLB without any affiliate experience, so he’s already started his service time clock, but the Jays have a deep enough staff where they can be patient with him.

Johnson limited hard contact, kept the ball on the ground, and did well to miss bats in his 14.2 MLB innings. If nothing else, he’ll provide as a bulk reliever or spot starter if someone gets hurt.

2. Re-Sign Bo Bichette

Maybe I’m getting too emotional here, but it felt like for years the Jays didn’t do enough to complement their core of Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. To go buck wild and not have one of them feels wrong.

Having two homegrown stars as lifers is unheard of nowadays, but Toronto has a chance to do it by bringing back Bichette.

The longtime shortstop has reportedly told teams he’s willing to convert to second base.

While that likely perked the ears up of several potential suitors, that should actually get the Blue Jays excited too. Last season, Bichette was first percentile with -13 outs above average at shortstop. Since 2023, only J.P. Crawford and CJ Abrams have been worse.

Converting him to second base and giving him eight years at $208 million makes a ton of sense for both parties. Especially if the Jays offload the Berrios contract.

Taking out the injury-riddled 2024 for Bichette, we have a guy fluctuating between a 122 and 134 wRC+ since breaking out fully in 2021. His hit-over-power approach fits beautifully in what worked for the Jays last season as well. It all just makes sense.

3. Sign Evan Phillips

Phillips made just seven appearances in 2025 before an elbow injury ended his season.

While his recovery makes him likely to miss most of the 2026 season, there’s a chance he’d be ready for the stretch run in September.

Since 2022, the 31-year-old right-hander has ranked sixth in reliever ERA among qualifiers.

During that span, he’s also top 10 in fWAR, 22nd in strikeout-to-walk rate, and 14th in opponent batting average. Like most relievers, the best way to beat him is with the long ball. However, he’s maintained a sub-one home run per nine innings since becoming a Dodger.

Part of why the Jays couldn’t push it across the finish line was the bullpen’s inability to keep the ball in the yard.

Max Muncy homered off of Trey Yesavage, then Miguel Rojas homered off Jeff Hoffman, then Will Smith off of Shane Bieber. Phillips avoids the long ball and is one of baseball’s best high-leverage arms.

4. Trade for JoJo Romero

In an effort to upgrade the lefty relief contingent, acquiring Romero gives the Jays a new top guy at their disposal.

The 29-year-old fits in the bucket of what’s become a hot market this offseason: a lefty with a groundball-heavy profile. Last year was a career year for him, posting a 2.07 ERA across 61 innings. His walks increased somewhat, but that didn’t affect his overall run prevention.

Headed back to the Cardinals? Soon-to-be 25-year-old left-hander Adam Macko.

Macko made 18 appearances in Triple-A last season, 10 of which were starts. His overall numbers weren’t impressive: a 5.06 ERA and 10.1% strikeout-to-walk rate. However, he had surgery in February after tearing his meniscus.

Numbers aside, the Jays protected him from the Rule 5 Draft.

He did fly through the minors in 2024, going from A-Ball to Triple-A by season’s end, so there was some helium surrounding the southpaw entering Spring Training this past season. Going to St. Louis, there are plenty of opportunities for him to crack the big-league club.

They’ve done a lot to give their pitching depth a facelift. They’ve brought in Richard Fitts and Dustin May already as back-end starters. Macko gives their 40 roster another lefty option in a pinch, whether as a starter or reliever.

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