The trade

Blue Jays get: OF Brett Bateman, INF Ty Southisene

Cubs get: RHP Kevin Gausman

Kevin Gausman is the same guy he used to be, and that’s worth more than this

Blue Jays: C
Cubs: A-

Maybe I’m just a sucker for a battle-scarred veteran pitcher, but I dig this trade a lot for the Cubs. The underlying numbers suggest Gausman is pretty similar to the pitcher he’s been the past three seasons — 3.51 FIP this year compared to a 3.41 FIP last year, with a similar strikeout-to-walk ratio. He still has an elite fastball. And he demonstrated his mettle during Toronto’s run to the World Series last year.

Gausman does not qualify as an ace, but the Cubs should feel comfortable handing him the baseball in Game 1 of a postseason series. To secure him, they gave up a couple of position players with scant power. Feels like a nice win for Chicago. (If Gausman ends up giving up four dingers in an NLDS game, please send all your angry emails to Jon Greenberg.) — Andy McCullough

A pair of players with little-to-no power are an underwhelming return for Toronto

Blue Jays: C-
Cubs: A

As nice as it would have been to see Kevin Gausman stay in Toronto, the city where he cemented himself as a No. 1 starter and sneaky Cy Young candidate, it seemed he and the club were prepared to turn the page. They did all they had set out to do together except win a World Series. And, boy, they came close.

But is this really all the Jays could get?

Listen, I know Gausman is not in peak form. He had a recent stretch in which he had a 7.27 ERA across seven starts, and the Jays lost all seven games. But this is still a pitcher I’d happily hand the ball to for a postseason start. There had to have been several contenders talking to the Blue Jays brass in recent days. This return feels mighty light.

Bateman, 24, is an outfielder with speed and a knack for getting on base, but he has just six homers in 1,370 plate appearances in the minors. It’s below-average contact quality with a penchant for drilling the ball into the ground. He’s slashing .312/.431/.422 this season at Triple-A Iowa with 20 steals, nearly as many walks (60) as strikeouts (65). But, again, almost no power: three homers in 81 games. That profile only plays if he can truly play center field in the big leagues.

Southisene, a fourth-round pick out of high school in 2024, has even less power: zero homers in 706 pro plate appearances. He, too, is having a nice year on paper — .311/.431/.381 across Low A and High A — but has just seven extra-base hits. He started the year ranked as the No. 19 prospect in the Cubs farm system by The Athletic’s Keith Law. At 5-foot-7 and 170 pounds, Southisene probably winds up at second base. He doesn’t project as a regular.
It’s not nothing, but you’d want more for a starter with Gausman’s track record. — Stephen J. Nesbitt