Shushkewich: Strong trade deadline has helped spark Jays' postseason success
Reliever Louis Varland, who was acquired from the Minnesota Twins at the trade deadline, has made 13 relief appearances for the Toronto Blue Jays this postseason. Photo: MLB.com
October 30, 2025
By Tyson Shushkewich
Canadian Baseball Network
Heading into the 2025 trade deadline, the Toronto Blue Jays were firmly in the AL East driver's seat.
They were tied with the Detroit Tigers for the best record in the American League, and they held a 3.5 game lead over the New York Yankees for top spot in the AL East division.
It was a stark contrast from the season before. In 2024, the Jays were throwing in the towel come late July, stopping the bleeding in what had been a hopeful year, building upon an early Wild Card exit at the hands of the Minnesota Twins. Instead, it was a fire sale. Expiring contracts were traded away, former ‘ace in the making’ Nate Pearson was dealt to the Chicago Cubs, and the Jays were adding some pieces back into their farm system that needed some help in the worst way.
General manager Ross Atkins knew things had to be different this time around. The trade deadline was one area the Jays couldn’t swing and miss if they wanted to not only make the postseason, but hold onto the top spot in the division. Fans wanted his head before the season began, and now they were looking for him to produce when the lights were shining the brightest for general managers across the league.
When the dust settled, the Blue Jays acquired two relievers, a starter, and a depth catcher, heading into August without adding any prominent bats. The bullpen arms were intriguing – Seranthony Dominguez from the Orioles and Louis Varland from the Twins were upside arms for the relief corps, providing some firepower to the backend of the bullpen to help support Jeff Hoffman late in close games.
The Jays also made a risky move in acquiring right-hander Shane Bieber from the Cleveland Guardians, the old stomping grounds for Atkins and CEO Mark Shapiro. Bieber was recovering from Tommy John surgery and hadn’t pitched at the big league level since April 2, 2024, so there was potential that this move could backfire if the California product hit a setback in his rehab or struggled to find the form that made him such a prominent rotation arm before the injury.
These moves weren’t the flashiest of the deadline – Mason Miller went to the San Diego Padres, Carlos Correa returned to the Houston Astros, Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) found themselves in Seattle, and the Phillies bolstered their bullpen by acquiring Jhoan Duran from the Twins – but they were the right moves for the Jays.
Toronto’s bullpen was in flux this season, with some key contributors struggling to carve out a full-time role in the relief corps. Chad Green, Josh Walker, Spencer Turnbull, and Erik Swanson found themselves DFA’d, Yimi Garcia and Nick Sandlin missed a large portion of the season due to injury, and the Blue Jays were filtering through arms to patch together a bullpen worthy of their postseason aspirations. The additions of Dominguez and Varland were brought in to bring that stability, and both relievers have accomplished just that.
Dominguez crafted a 3.00 ERA across 24 outings with a 10.7 K/9 down the stretch, finishing four games. Varland found himself in 23 games, making one start for the Jays in a short capacity, while posting a 4.94 ERA, 3.56 FIP, and a 10.6 K/9. Both were used in high-pressure situations as the season wore down, and were key bullpen arms used during the final week when the Jays faced the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays to cap off the year.
Looking into the postseason, both relievers have been a huge part of the Jays' relief effort.
Across 10 outings, Dominguez has posted a 3.60 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP, appearing in more than 60% of the club’s postseason games. He has allowed just four hits and eight walks in that time, with just four earned runs against, while holding opponents to a .121 batting average and being scored against in only three of his 10 postseason appearances.
For Varland, the right-hander has been one of the most used relievers not only on the Jays roster, but the entire postseason. He’s appeared in 13 of the Jays' 15 October games, which includes starting against the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the ALDS. The Minnesota product owns a 4.50 ERA across 14 innings of work, amassing a 1.14 WHIP while opponents have produced .241/.293/.500 slash line against the right-hander.
Varland has been an absolute workhorse for the Jays, and while he and Dominguez haven’t produced the cleanest lines this October, their contributions have been a key cog in the machine that has gotten the Blue Jays to this point in the postseason.
Another key member of the machine has been Bieber, who joined the rotation on August 22, following his rehab stint in Buffalo after the trade.
He would go on to start seven games for Toronto, with the Jays winning five of those contests. Across 40 1/3 innings, Bieber allowed just 16 runs and seven walks while striking out 37 batters (8.3 K/9) and producing a 4.47 FIP and a 1.017 WHIP. It wasn’t ‘David Price’ level of trade deadline rotation injection, but those five games the Jays won were instrumental in the club finishing first in the division after the Yankees got hot late in the season.
This stretch carried into the postseason, with Bieber becoming the go-to arm for the Jays on the road. With Toronto bringing Trey Yesavage into the postseason, manager John Schneider tried to have the young starter pitch at home as much as possible, meaning Bieber started Game 3 on the road in both the ALDS and ALCS.
Across four starts, the right-hander owns a 3.57 ERA in 17 2/3 innings, striking out 18 batters compared to six walks while allowing just seven earned runs. Opposing teams have gotten to him at times in the hit column (20), but he limited the damage and arguably had one of the biggest performances of the postseason in Game 4 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Down 2-1 in the series, Toronto needed a win to stay in the fight and guarantee the series would return to Toronto. Bieber went out and put up a strong start against a tough Dodgers lineup, allowing just four hits, three walks, and one earned run in the eventual Blue Jays win that tied up the series at two games apiece. He also struck out three batters, including Shohei Ohtani (twice), and was able to help provide some quality innings after the Jays' bullpen got pushed to their limits in the 18-inning marathon that was Game 3.
The Blue Jays have been an impressive team from start to finish this season. They didn’t bludgeon teams to death (unless you were the Colorado Rockies), and they used a wide range of players to not only get the job done, but find themselves atop the American League standings.
The additions of Varland, Dominguez, and Bieber were exactly what the Blue Jays needed to help strengthen the pitching corps for a late push, not only in the regular season, but for October baseball. And while the jury is still out on whether the Jays will be bringing the World Series trophy north of the border, Heading into the 2025 trade deadline, the Toronto Blue Jays were firmly in the AL East driver's seat. They were tied with the Detroit Tigers for the best record in the American League, and they held a 3.5 game lead over the New York Yankees for top spot in the AL East division.
It was a stark contrast from the season before. In 2024, the Jays were throwing in the towel come late July, stopping the bleeding in what had been a hopeful year, building upon an early Wild Card exit at the hands of the Minnesota Twins. Instead, it was a fire sale. Expiring contracts were traded away, former ‘ace in the making’ Nate Pearson was dealt to the Chicago Cubs, and the Jays were adding some pieces back into their farm system that needed some help in the worst way.
General manager Ross Atkins knew things had to be different this time around. The trade deadline was one area the Jays couldn’t swing and miss if they wanted to not only make the postseason, but hold onto the top spot in the division as well. Fans wanted his head before the season began, and now they were looking for him to produce when the lights were shining the brightest for general managers across the league.
When the dust settled, the Blue Jays acquired two bullpen pitchers, a starter, and a depth catcher, heading into August without adding any prominent bats into the mix. The bullpen arms were intriguing – Seranthony Dominguez from the Orioles and Louis Varland from the Twins were upside arms for the relief corps, providing some firepower to the back end of the bullpen to help support Jeff Hoffman late in close games.
The Jays also made a risky move in acquiring right-hander Shane Bieber from the Cleveland Guardians, the old stomping grounds for Atkins and CEO Mark Shapiro. Bieber was recovering from Tommy John surgery and hadn’t pitched at the big league level since April 2nd, 2024, so there was potential that this move could backfire if the California product hit a setback in his rehab or struggled to find the form that made him such a prominent rotation arm before the injury.
These moves weren’t the flashiest of the deadline – Mason Miller went to the San Diego Padres, Carlos Correa returned to the Houston Astros, Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor found themselves in Seattle, and the Phillies bolstered their bullpen by acquiring Jhoan Duran from the Twins – but they were the right moves for the Jays.
Toronto’s bullpen was in flux this season, with some key contributors struggling to carve out a full-time role in the relief corps. Chad Green, Josh Walker, Spencer Turnbull, and Erik Swanson found themselves DFA’d, Yimi Garcia and Nick Sandlin missed a large portion of the season due to injury, and the Blue Jays were filtering through a variety of arms to patch together a bullpen worthy of the postseason aspirations they were striving for. The additions of Dominguez and Varland were brought in to bring that stability, and both relievers have accomplished just that.
Dominguez crafted a 3.00 ERA across 24 outings with a 10.7 K/9 down the stretch, finishing four games. Varland found himself in 23 games, making one start for the Jays in a short capacity, while posting a 4.94 ERA, 3.56 FIP, and a 10.6 K/9. Both were used in high-pressure situations as the season wore down, and were key bullpen arms used during the final week when the Jays faced the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays to cap off the year.
Looking into the postseason, both relievers have been a huge part of the Jays' relief effort.
Across nine outings, Dominguez has posted a 4.00 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP, appearing in 60% of the club’s postseason games. He has allowed just four hits and seven walks in that time, with just four earned runs against, while holding opponents to a .133 batting average and being scored against in only three of his nine postseason appearances.
For Varland, the right-hander has been one of the most used relievers not only on the Jays roster, but the entire postseason. He’s appeared in 13 of the Jays' 15 October games, which includes starting against the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the ALDS. The Minnesota product owns a 4.50 ERA across 14 innings of work, amassing a 1.14 WHIP while opponents have produced .241/.293/.500 slash line against the right-hander.
Varland has been an absolute workhorse for the Jays this season, and while he and Dominguez haven’t produced the cleanest lines this October, their contributions are a cog in the machine that has gotten the Blue Jays to this point in the postseason.
Another key member of the machine has been Bieber, who joined the rotation on August 22nd, following his rehab stint in Buffalo after the trade.
He would go on to start seven games for Toronto, with the Jays winning five of those contests. Across 40 1/3 innings, Bieber allowed just 16 runs and seven walks while striking out 37 batters (8.3 K/9) and producing a 4.47 FIP and a 1.017 WHIP. It wasn’t ‘David Price’ level of trade deadline rotation injection, but those five games the Jays won were instrumental in the club finishing first in the division after the Yankees got hot late in the season.
This stretch carried into the postseason, with Bieber becoming the go-to arm for the Jays on the road. With Toronto bringing Trey Yesavage into the postseason, manager John Schneider tried to have the young starter pitch at home as much as possible, meaning Bieber started Game 3 on the road in both the ALDS and ALCS.
Across four starts, the right-hander owns a 3.57 ERA across 17 2/3 innings, striking out 18 batters compared to six walks while allowing just seven earned runs. Opposing teams have gotten to him at times in the hit column (20), but he limited the damage and arguably had one of the biggest performances of the postseason in Game 4 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Down 2-1 in the series, Toronto needed a win to stay in the fight and guarantee the series would return to Toronto. Bieber would go out and put up a strong start against a tough Dodgers lineup, allowing just four hits, three walks, and one earned run in the eventual Blue Jays win, tying up the series at two games apiece. He also struck out three batters, including Shohei Ohtani (x2), and was able to help provide some quality innings after the Jays' bullpen got pushed to their limits in the 18-inning marathon that was Game 3.
The Blue Jays have been an impressive team from start to finish this season. They didn’t bludgeon teams to death (unless you were the Colorado Rockies), and they used a wide range of players to not only get the job done, but find themselves atop the American League standings.
The additions of Varland, Dominguez, and Bieber were exactly what the Blue Jays needed to help strengthen the pitching corps for a late push, not only in the regular season, but for October baseball as well. And while the jury is still out on whether the Jays will be bringing the Championship trophy North of the border, their team is set up in a better position to capture the title with a strong offseason led by general manager Ross Atkins.