Blue Jays beef up bullpen, add versatility in getting Varland and France from Twins
Blue Jays
weren't able to land a big-name closer at this year's trade deadline but they did acquire a hard-throwing right-hander who will slot into the back end of their bullpen.
With minutes to spare before Thursday's 6 p.m. ET cut-off,
general manager Ross Atkins
acquired Louis Varland and utilityman Ty France in a deal with the Minnesota Twins. Varland joins the recently acquired
Seranthony Dominguez
as part of the Jays' new-look bullpen.
Earlier in the day, a slew of big arms went off the market. The New York Mets acquired Ryan Helsley from St. Louis, the New York Yankees added David Bednar from Pittsburgh, and Gavin Lux went from the Twins to Tampa Bay. The night before, the Twins sent
Jhoan Duran
to Philadelphia.
The Jays reportedly were interested in everyone on that list. After missing out, they went searching for alternatives. Enter Varland, who isn't nearly as well known despite throwing 98 m.p.h. with an impressive 2.02 ERA in 49 innings for the Twins. The 27-year-old has yet to hit arbitration and won't reach free agency until at least 2030.
'He has as good of a fastball as you can find and as good as a curveball as you can find, with a very effective cutter,' Atkins said. 'He's extremely aggressive, he's coming after you and that's attractive to us. He immediately impacts our bullpen in a significant way, in addition to Seranthony … the impact is exactly what we were looking for.'
Bieber, rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, has the talent to become the ace Toronto needs. He
France will take the spot of Will Wagner on the active roster. Wagner was traded to San Diego on Thursday in exchange for Double-A catcher Brandon Valenzuela. The 24-year-old Valenzuela is a strong defender who doesn't offer much with the bat and will instead provide depth in the minors.
Jays fans might remember France from his days with Seattle. He was an all-star on the 2022 team that swept the Jays in the wild-card series. His career took a nose dive after that and this season he was batting .251 with a below-average .678 on-base plus slugging percentage in 101 games.
France's splits against lefties and righties are about the same, so he isn't the ideal platoon partner the Jays were expected to add, but he does offer versatility with an ability to play first, third and a bit of second. He signed a one-year, $1 million (U.S.) deal during the off-season and will be a free agent at the end of the year.
'A good offensive player who will get significant playing time against left-handed pitching,' Atkins said. 'We're not going to limit him to that, but he can cover us well at first base, has some versatility beyond that. Excited about that fit of adding a right-handed bat to our 26-man (roster).'
The Jays made their first deal of Trade Deadline Week, acquiring big-armed reliever Seranthony
To acquire Varland, and to a lesser extent France, the Jays parted with Kendry Rojas, who was ranked their No. 6 prospect by MLB Pipeline. Rojas recently had been promoted to Triple-A Buffalo and had a 3.46 ERA in 11 appearances this season across four levels. The 22-year-old could be ready for the majors as soon as 2026.
The Jays also sent
Alan Roden
to the Twins as part of the deal. Roden received a lot of hype during this year's spring training and cracked the opening-day roster, but he struggled in the majors. The 25-year-old hit just .203 with seven extra-base hits in 43 games for the Jays.
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