The Toronto Blue Jays have had a hectic offseason so far. After dropping the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, they have made a ton of moves. In addition to adding solid prospects across both pitching and fielding, they have upgraded their rotation. The additions of Cody Ponce and Dylan Cease, as well as the return of Shane Bieber, give them an impressive rotation. Most recently, they made the Tyler Rogers news official and DFA’d Justin Bruihl to make room on the 40-man roster.
According to the Blue Jays’ CEO, they want to field an impressive team regardless of who is on it. At this point, a decision on Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette doesn’t appear imminent. However, they recently received good news — potential Bichette suitors have signed other players instead.
If the Blue Jays want to improve their team via trade, more good news has surfaced in that regard, too. There is a world where they could bring back Bichette and add a second baseman.
Toronto Blue Jays DFA Justin Bruihl, Make Tyler Rogers News Official
On Monday, December 15th, 2025, the Blue Jays made the Rogers signing official. Heavy urged them to make this move because Rogers has an impressive ability to prevent batters from hitting home runs. Case in point, Jeff Hoffman and Chad Green surrendered more home runs last year than Rogers has in his entire career.
To make the $37 million Rogers’ signing official, Bruihl was designated for assignment.
Bruihl has struggled to find his place on a pitching staff. Over his five MLB seasons, he’s only recorded a sub-4.00 ERA in his first two years.
There are reasons for the Blue Jays to be optimistic about the 28-year-old lefty reliever. According to Savant data, Bruihl’s expected ERA has been lower than his actual ERA for the last three seasons.
Blue Jays Get Positive Trade News
The trade market appears to be heating up. One potential trade target is second baseman Ketel Marte. The Blue Jays have been one of several teams that have checked in on the infielder.
On Sunday, December 14, 2025, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported the teams that are on Marte’s no-trade list. Those five teams are the New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Oakland Athletics.
The absence of Toronto on this list is good news. Free agency isn’t the only way to improve a team. If the Blue Jays can add a 28-home run, 145 wRC+ infielder via trade, they need to explore the cost of such a transaction at least.
Marte’s 145 wRC+ isn’t a stat to scoff at. The only Blue Jays hitter in 2025 who played over 100 games and had a better wRC+ was George Springer (166). Bichette himself recorded a wRC+ of 134.
It’s not public knowledge if the Blue Jays have a hard spending cap. Their priority is putting together a winning lineup. If that means signing Bichette to play shortstop and trading for Marte to play second base, both things can come to pass.
Latest on Bo Bichette & Other Free Agents
The Atlanta Braves were reportedly suitors for Bichette. Well, the Blue Jays got more good news when the Braves brought back Ha-Seong Kim to the tune of a one-year, $20 million contract.
With the Braves locking up their shortstop, that seemingly takes them out of the Bichette sweepstakes.
Elsewhere, the Blue Jays have also been connected to more free agent pitchers. Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet linked Toronto to Brad Keller.
Keller has been a starter, but experienced a career resurgence as a reliever last year. Adding another potential swingman to their bullpen would be a sound piece of business for the Blue Jays.
DFAing Bruihl was necessary, but his new assignment isn’t the end of his tenure with Toronto. There is still an opportunity for him to prove himself and be on the first plane back up to Toronto when injury inevitably strikes.
It will be interesting to monitor all of these things as the offseason continues to roll along.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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