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After reaching the World Series with Toronto last season, Daulton Varsho resets to helping the Astros make a playoff push.<\/p>\n
Leslie Plaza Johnson\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Daulton Varsho<\/a>\u00a0was hitting in the visitors\u2019 cage at Daikin Park on Monday afternoon when he was called into Blue Jays manager John Schneider\u2019s office. There, the center fielder learned he was being traded to the\u00a0Houston Astros<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 just across the field.<\/p>\n Shortly after, Varsho walked the hallways in Houston\u2019s ballpark to his new clubhouse and a team hoping he can lift an outfield lacking for production. He finished his pregame routine in the home cage, donned a white No. 18 jersey and prepared to face a Toronto side he\u2019d called teammates hours before.<\/p>\n \u201cDefinitely a whirlwind,\u201d Varsho said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n One face offered familiarity amid his abrupt transition.\u00a0Varsho, 30, played his first three seasons for the Arizona Diamondbacks as a teammate of now-Astros first baseman Christian Walker. He said that gave him \u201ca little bit of a breather\u201d in a new group even as \u201cguys were welcoming\u201d upon his arrival.<\/p>\n Further assurance came from a former Astros outfielder. Varsho played the past few seasons alongside George Springer, the Blue Jays designated hitter who spent seven years in Houston and offered a quick insight before Varsho made his short walk between clubhouses Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cHe told me, \u2018You\u2019re going to really enjoy it there,\u2019 \u201d said\u00a0Varsho, an impending free agent and a rental acquisition by an Astros team looking to improve its outfield and return to the playoffs. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n While acquiring Varsho for right-hander Spencer Arrighetti was the Astros\u2019 only move before Monday\u2019s trade deadline, the Blue Jays executed a flurry of deals, some involving veterans who were part of their team that reached the World Series just last year and fell in seven games to the Los Angeles Dodgers.<\/p>\n Former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho answers a question during a news conference after being traded to the Houston Astros before their baseball game Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Daulton Varsho\u00a0of the Houston Astros singles during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Daikin Park on August 3, 2026 in Houston, Texas.<\/p>\n Alex Slitz\/Getty Images Daulton Varsho (18( of the Houston Astros looks on during the game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Houston Astros at Daikin Park on Monday, August 3, 2026 in Houston, Texas.<\/p>\n Kairi Mano\/MLB Photos via Getty Images Daulton Varsho (18) of the Houston Astros bats during the game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Houston Astros at Daikin Park on Monday, August 3, 2026 in Houston, Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kairi Mano\/MLB Photos via Getty Images Former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho becomes emotional while answering a question during a news conference after being traded to the Houston Astros before their baseball game Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press Former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho answers a question during a news conference after being traded to the Houston Astros before their baseball game Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)<\/p>\n David J. Phillip\/Associated Press<\/p>\n Toronto entered Monday with a 52-60 record and in last place in the AL East, creating the possibility of trading off pieces. Varsho said Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins was \u201cpretty honest with me\u201d that he could be moved if it netted Toronto a return that Atkins felt \u201cwill help our team for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n The Blue Jays traded rotation cornerstone Kevin Gausman to the Cubs late Sunday night. But they then traded for Angels starter Jos\u00e9 Soriano early Monday, a move Varsho said indicated to him he might not be dealt.<\/p>\n \u201cI was like, all right, they\u2019re going to build for the future but also still try to win this year,\u201d Varsho said. \u201cBut obviously, I got told in kind of a weird, awkward time of kind of getting ready for the day. But it\u2019s just one of those things where it\u2019s a business and you\u2019ve got to kind of get over it.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Varsho, speaking in a press conference about two hours before he made his Astros debut, choked up at one point reflecting on his four seasons in Toronto and the players and coaches he encountered there. Acquired by the Blue Jays in a trade before the 2023 season for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno, Varsho burnished his defensive reputation in Toronto and won a Gold Glove in center field in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a guy who has been here for a number of years and really was loved by his teammates, by all of us, the front office, the coaching staff,\u201d Schneider said pregame. \u201cHe knows that. He came here as a little bit of a younger dude with something to prove and he\u2019s leaving here with a kid and someone who was pretty deep-rooted in our clubhouse and our community, so that\u2019s tough.\u201d<\/p>\n The Astros will plug Varsho in as their everyday center fielder and hit him \u201cin the middle\u201d of the lineup, manager Joe Espada said. Varsho, a left-handed hitter, entered Monday with a career 97 OPS-plus. He had a .243\/.307\/.375 slash line and 86 OPS-plus in his 99 games for the Blue Jays this season, numbers below his career norms.<\/p>\n Houston entered Monday extracting the majors\u2019 fourth-lowest OPS from its outfielders and the fewest plate appearances by left-handed hitters against right-handed pitching, a lack of balance Varsho helps address. General manager Dana Brown said the Astros see Varsho as \u201ca plus defender with some upside to his bat\u201d and felt they \u201cadded some wins to this team by getting a quality everyday center fielder.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Monday night, the Astros plugged Varsho immediately into the cleanup spot in the lineup. In his first at-bat, Varsho pulled a ground ball that glanced off the glove of Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., for what was ruled an infield single. He finished 1-for-4 with a walk in the Astros\u2019 3-1 loss<\/a>, which left them at 58-56 but still 2 \u00bd games up in the AL West.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re excited,\u201d Varsho said pregame. \u201cSo that\u2019s the best part for me is I get to join a team that\u2019s very excited to have me and I\u2019m excited to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After reaching the World Series with Toronto last season, Daulton Varsho resets to helping the Astros make a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-397231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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