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The Toronto Blue Jays could soon trade away a key player ahead of opening day. Much of the buzz surrounding the team’s offseason has involved star hitters such as Bo Bichette, Kyle Tucker, and Cody Bellinger. Toronto, however, failed to sign any of the trio during free agency. Instead, the club made several other significant moves, including bringing in pitchers such as Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce, and Tyler Rogers.

With the new additions now in place, the Blue Jays appear to have a surplus of starting pitching. Bleacher Report previously predicted that Toronto may go with a six-man rotation to begin the 2026 season. The outlet claims that Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage, Jose Berrios, Cease, and Ponce will fill out the rotation. Ponce could also be used out of the bullpen, but a strong spring training could force manager John Schneider to include him as a starter.

This particularly packed rotation does not even include Eric Lauer. The versatile lefty split his time as a starter and reliever in 2025. All six of the aforementioned starters are all right handed, so Lauer could be valuable in the rotation. Nevertheless, Bleacher Report is now predicting that the Blue Jays will offload a pitcher in the coming weeks, and it could very well be Lauer.

If Toronto does wind up offloading one of their starters, they would likely prefer it to be Berrios. After all, the veteran endured a fairly disappointing 2025 by posting a 4.17 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, and just 138 strikeouts in 166 innings. The Blue Jays, however, will have a hard time moving Berrios because he is still owed $67 million over the next three years.

Toronto Blue Jays Should Not Have Trouble Finding Trade Partner for Eric Lauer

GettyEric Lauer was a valuable piece of the puzzle for the Blue Jays in 2025.

With Berrios’s contract tough to move, Toronto would have a much easier time finding a suitor for Lauer. The southpaw just had one of his best seasons as a professional pitcher in 2025. As a swingman, Lauer recorded a 3.18 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 102 strikeouts in 104.2 innings on the year. He is set to make just a fraction of what Berrios will earn in the upcoming campaign as well.

Lauer pitched in 28 total games in 2025, with 15 of these appearances coming as a starter. While he could still find a similar role in Toronto during 2026, other clubs would likely want him in their rotation. Bleacher Report has specifically picked the Los Angeles Angels as a potential trade partner with the Blue Jays.

The Angels are about to enter 2026 with several question marks in their rotation. Newly acquired Grayson Rodriguez missed the entire 2025 campaign due to injury issues. Alek Manoah, predicted to be the team’s fifth starter, also only pitched in the minors last season and has only thrown 111 MLB innings since the start of 2023.

Blue Jays Expected to Receive Prospect if They Move Swingman

According to Bleacher Report, Toronto’s potential return for trading Lauer may not be all that thrilling. The outlet claims that the Blue Jays could expect to receive a highly-rated minor league pitcher from the Angels. If so, the deal would help boost Toronto’s fairly mediocre farm system.

Toronto could also replace Lauer with a true left-handed reliever. St. Louis Cardinals standout JoJo Romeo has been linked with a potential switch to the Blue Jays in recent days. Opting to move on from Lauer now could also be beneficial to the club. The pitcher has perhaps reached his ceiling and may not have a higher value in the future.

Christopher Moore Christopher Moore has been a Heavy.com contributor since 2025. With over a decade of experience in the industry, he has published thousands of articles reporting on multiple professional sports. He was previously a sports writer for World Soccer Talk, the Yahoo! Contributor Network, and the Maryland Sports Blog. More about Christopher Moore

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