{"id":337255,"date":"2025-12-10T17:42:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/337255\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T17:42:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:42:07","slug":"blue-jays-notes-weaver-outfielders-berrios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/337255\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays Notes: Weaver, Outfielders, Berrios"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the Blue Jays scouring the bullpen market, Sportsnet\u2019s Ben Nicholson-Smith<\/a> reports that Luke Weaver<\/a> is one of the many relievers on the Jays\u2019 radar.\u00a0 Weaver temporarily served as the Yankees\u2019 closer in 2025, but would presumably be used just in a high-leverage capacity by the Jays, and probably isn\u2019t viewed as a candidate to supplant Jeff Hoffman<\/a> in the ninth inning (unlike other Jays targets Robert Suarez<\/a> or the newly-signed Dodger Edwin Diaz<\/a>).<\/p>\n

MLB Trade Rumors projected Weaver for a two-year, $18MM contract, and we ranked the right-hander 41st on our list of the offseason\u2019s top 50 free agents<\/a>.\u00a0 He posted a 3.62 ERA, 7.6% walk rate, and 27.5% strikeout rate, with very strong chase and whiff rates accompanying that impressive K%.\u00a0 However, Weaver\u2019s 2025 season was a Jekyll-and-Hyde campaign built around a three-week absence in June due to a hamstring strain.<\/p>\n

Weaver had a 1.05 ERA over 25 2\/3 innings prior to his stint on the injured list, and then a 5.31 ERA over his final 39 innings of the season.\u00a0 If the regular-season woes weren\u2019t enough, Weaver was then charged with five earned runs over what was officially just one-third of an inning pitched over three playoff appearances \u2014 the Jays themselves contributed to this misery by scoring three runs off Weaver without a batter retired in their 10-1 rout in Game 1 of the ALDS.<\/p>\n

The long ball was a big part of Weaver\u2019s problem, as eight of his 10 home runs allowed in 2025 came following his IL stint.\u00a0 His 27.5% grounder rate was one of the worst in the league, and well below the 38.7% grounder rate he\u2019d posted over nine previous big league seasons.\u00a0 The big question facing the Blue Jays or any other suitors is whether or not this susceptibility to home runs is a new reality for Weaver, or either a lingering after-effect of his hamstring injury or perhaps just because of some tipped pitches<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As Nicholson-Smith notes, spending huge money on a closer probably isn\u2019t an ideal situation for Toronto\u2019s front office, so Weaver represents an option a tier below Suarez\u2019s asking price.\u00a0 Beyond signing a reliever, another option would be to add bullpen help via the trade market, and The Athletic\u2019s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon<\/a> write that the Blue Jays \u201care considering\u201d the idea of trading an outfielder for a reliever.<\/p>\n

Nathan Lukes<\/a>, Myles Straw<\/a>, Joey Loperfido<\/a>, \u201cand a few others\u201d are candidates for such a deal.\u00a0 Presumably this would mean minor league depth options like Jonatan Clase<\/a>, and not presumptive starters like Daulton Varsho<\/a>, Addison Barger<\/a>, or Davis Schneider<\/a>.\u00a0 (The Blue Jays probably wouldn\u2019t mind moving Anthony Santander<\/a>, yet Toronto would have to eat a huge chunk of Santander\u2019s remaining contract in the aftermath of his injury-marred down year.)<\/p>\n

Lukes was a part-timer over his first two seasons with Toronto, but emerged as a regular in 2025, hitting .255\/.323\/.407 over 438 plate appearances (103 wRC+).\u00a0 The left-handed hitting Lukes primarily played against right-handed pitching, though his splits were only somewhat better against righties than lefties.\u00a0 Lukes can play all three outfield positions, and has delivered passable glovework in center field while excelling in corner outfield roles.<\/p>\n

Outfield-needy teams could certainly view Lukes as a candidate for at least strong-side platoon duty.\u00a0 He is also controllable through the 2030 season as a probable Super Two candidate when he gains arbitration eligibility next winter, though the late-blooming Lukes is already 31 years old.\u00a0 The 26-year-old Loperfido is another player with long-term control since he has barely over a full year of MLB service time, and after he hit .333\/.379\/.500 over 104 PA for the Jays in 2025, rival clubs might be keen to see what he could do with more playing time.<\/p>\n

This winter\u2019s center field market is thin enough that Straw could be viewed as a glove-first starter.\u00a0 Straw has never been much of a hitter throughout his eight MLB seasons, but posting a 91 wRC+ in 2025 (from a .262\/.313\/.267 slash line over 299 PA) counts as a relative surge by Straw\u2019s standards.\u00a0 Some teams will view that as an acceptable level of offense from a player who can deliver Gold Glove-worthy defense in center field.<\/p>\n

Straw is the most expensive of this trio, as he is owed $7MM in 2026, and the Blue Jays hold an $8MM club option on his services for 2027 (with a $1.75MM buyout) and an $8.5MM club option for 2028 ($500K buyout).\u00a0 As per the terms of the trade<\/a> that brought Straw from Cleveland to Toronto last winter, the Guardians are covering $1MM in salary this year and will pay $1.75MM towards either the 2027 buyout or salary.<\/p>\n

A $6MM immediate price tag for a superb defensive center fielder isn\u2019t outlandish, and it is a testament to Straw\u2019s bounce-back year that he has regained some value after being a salary dump for the Guardians last offseason.\u00a0 Beyond just the statistics and the salary, however, Rosenthal\/Sammon notes that Straw\u2019s reputation as a great locker room leader must be valued by both trade suitors and the Blue Jays, given how close-knit Toronto\u2019s clubhouse was during their playoff run.<\/p>\n

It makes for a difficult tightrope for the Jays to walk this winter, as while the team obviously wants to retain their 2025 magic on and off the field, some upgrades are needed.\u00a0 Dylan Cease<\/a> and Cody Ponce<\/a> are already big new additions to the pitching staff, and beyond the possibility of a Bo Bichette<\/a> reunion, signing a Kyle Tucker<\/a> or an Alex Bregman<\/a> would bring an entire new dimension to the lineup.\u00a0 Nicholson-Smith suggests that if all of Bichette, Tucker, and Bregman signed elsewhere, Toronto wouldn\u2019t necessarily feel the need to seek out another prominent hitter, as the team has trust in its core.\u00a0 Such a decision would carry some risk, as the Jays would be hoping Santander regains his old form, and the rest of the lineup continues basically its team-wide breakout performance.<\/p>\n

Jose Berrios<\/a>\u2019 situation has also been a subplot of Toronto\u2019s offseason, as the Blue Jays are reportedly open<\/a> to trading the veteran starter, though that\u2019ll be a tricky endeavor considering Berrios\u2019 down year and the three years and $66 remaining on his contract.\u00a0 There have been rumblings that Berrios isn\u2019t happy with his status with the team, as he was removed from the rotation late in the season and (ostensibly due to an injury) wasn\u2019t part of the playoff roster.\u00a0 According to The Athletic\u2019s Mitch Bannon<\/a>, Berrios hasn\u2019t requested a trade.<\/p>\n

GM Ross Atkins shared some details on Berrios when speaking with Bannon and other reporters on Monday, saying Berrios was indeed \u201cdisappointed that he wasn\u2019t in our rotation.\u00a0 He handled it well\u2026.We\u2019re never going to have a situation where we have 40 players or even 26 players that are feeling great about the opportunity that they were given.\u201d\u00a0 The Blue Jays still view Berrios as a starter going into 2026, and rotation depth might be critical given how Shane Bieber<\/a> isn\u2019t necessarily a lock for Opening Day due to late-season forearm fatigue<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the Blue Jays scouring the bullpen market, Sportsnet\u2019s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports that Luke Weaver is one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[49,48,25818,14576,27870,97275,25821,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-337255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-joey-loperfido","11":"tag-jose-berrios","12":"tag-luke-weaver","13":"tag-myles-straw","14":"tag-nathan-lukes","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}