{"id":553096,"date":"2026-02-03T22:46:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T22:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/553096\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T22:46:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T22:46:22","slug":"blue-jays-linked-to-blockbuster-trade-for-superstar-cardinals-relief-pitcher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/553096\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays Linked to Blockbuster Trade for Superstar Cardinals Relief Pitcher"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6h\">The Toronto Blue Jays went into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/blue-jays-connected-free-agent-pitcher\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">offseason hungrier than ever<\/a> to make <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/blue-jays-have-one-remaining-need-address-before-spring-training\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">some significant moves<\/a> after getting their first taste of glory in over three decades in a crushing World Series Game 7 defeat.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6k\">General manager Ross Atkins has certainly acted like it by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/dylan-cease-hoping-achieve-first-career-blue-jays\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">committing hundreds of millions<\/a> to the pitching staff while also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/blue-jays-staggering-final-offer-kyle-tucker-revealed-insider\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">once again chasing down<\/a> the star player Toronto has coveted for so long in free agency.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6n\">If you like our content,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6q\">While the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/blue-jays-top-destination-kyle-tucker-before-dodgers-deal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pursuit of the star in Kyle Tucker fell short<\/a>, perhaps the Blue Jays can turn their focus now to the trade market in order to improve even further what may have been their biggest weakness <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/blue-jays-could-quickly-plug-bullpen-holes-reuniting-twin-brothers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">from 2025 in the bullpen<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6t\">In a recent piece from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/cardinals\/onsi\/st-louis-cardinals-news\/predicting-cardinals-blue-jays-blockbuster-trade-for-4-million-star-zach3\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zach Pressnell of St. Louis Cardinals on SI<\/a>, he named Toronto as an ideal trade fit for St. Louis star relief pitcher JoJo Romero.<\/p>\n<p> Blue Jays Named Best Fit for Cardinals Superstar JoJo Romero<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01kgjmnarbpq892n60y7.jpg\" alt=\"JoJo Romero of St. Louis Cardinals throws pitch from left hand.\" title=\"JoJo Romero of St. Louis Cardinals throws pitch from left hand.\" width=\"6217\" height=\"3497\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"76\"\/><\/p>\n<p>St. Louis Cardinals pitcher JoJo Romero | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7a\">&#8220;The Toronto Blue Jays are the perfect landing spot for Romero,&#8221; Pressnell wrote. &#8220;The Blue Jays were one of the best teams in baseball last year, despite a bad bullpen. They won the American League and almost took the World Series title from the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they ended up falling one game and one run short of the title. The bullpen was a big reason why the Blue Jays weren&#8217;t more dominant.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7d\">After two promising seasons for St. Louis in 2023 and 2024, Romero entered superstar status with an absolutely brilliant 2025 campaign that saw him pitch to a 2.07 ERA over 65 appearances to account for a very impressive bWAR of 1.7.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7g\">Though the numbers are very impressive and indicate that it could take a haul to land him, Toronto may be able to pry Romero away from the Cardinals for a return that does not make them hesitate.<\/p>\n<p>Blue Jays Can Likely Acquire Romero for Reasonable Return<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01kgjmxfg80h14d29w9f.jpg\" alt=\"JoJo Romero of St. Louis Cardinals throws pitch from left hand.\" title=\"JoJo Romero of St. Louis Cardinals throws pitch from left hand.\" width=\"4638\" height=\"2608\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7t\"\/><\/p>\n<p>St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher JoJo Romero | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7x\">St. Louis is clearly a team in rebuild mode who is not going to contend for anything significant this year, which of course means any and all tradable assets are on the table for other teams to come calling on.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"80\">Romero &#8212; who is a free agent after the 2026 season &#8212; is the definition of a tradable asset. Coming off a career season and only with one year left of team control. the Cardinals are likely looking to move on. Because it is just a one-year rental not to mention some command issues for the southpaw in 2025, a t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/blue-jays-big-league-success-comes-cost-fading-farm-system\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">op prospect is off the table<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"83\">If Toronto could put together a package of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/blue-jays-need-these-three-prospects-shine-ensure-future-success\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">two lower-level prospects<\/a>, it likely would be enough to get a deal done to bring Romero north of the border. Adding a significant piece like the 29-year-old to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/blue-jays-bullpen-takes-big-hit-top-reliever-chicago-white-sox\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">bullpen could be the exact<\/a> final push the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/bluejays\/onsi\/news\/blue-jays-interest-high-leverage-reliever-huge-boost-bullpen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Blue Jays need to get over<\/a> the hump.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"86\">Over the coming weeks, it&#8217;s worth monitoring Romero and his status as St. Louis keeps unloading pieces.<\/p>\n<p>Recommended Articles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Blue Jays went into the offseason hungrier than ever to make some significant moves after getting&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2403],"tags":[5,160,4,673,67,4311,4310],"class_list":{"0":"post-553096","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-louis-cardinals","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-cardinals","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-st-louis","12":"tag-st-louis-cardinals","13":"tag-stlouis","14":"tag-stlouiscardinals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116009133806175108","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}