There are several ways the Toronto Blue Jays can attempt to upgrade around the trade deadline, but one of the likeliest outcomes is an influx of bullpen reinforcements.

While the team’s position player group isn’t unstoppable, it has generated an MLB-best 16.9 fWAR since the beginning of May with a majors-leading 116 wRC. It will also be bolstered by the return of Daulton Varsho and Andrés Giménez in the near future and, presumably, Anthony Santander a little later. A tweak or two is possible, but an impact addition is unlikely.

The rotation has been the weakness of the team statistically, but quality starters aren’t abundant in a market with so many teams clustered together around the wild-card picture. Adding a starter is a rational goal, but getting a meaningful upgrade isn’t a slam dunk.

When it comes to relievers, things are more clear-cut. 

Toronto has gotten strong results from its bullpen so far in 2025, but the club has a relatively unproven group. The uncertainty surrounding Yimi García has left the team short on high-leverage arms, and a second trustworthy southpaw would go a long way. With plenty of quality relievers up for grabs, one way to sort through the market is to identify gaps in the Blue Jays’ current bullpen and find players that provide something no one in-house does. 

Below are five categories of relievers that bring something Toronto currently lacks. While the Blue Jays aren’t going to make five acquisitions, these are the types of players they could pursue, and some relievers check multiple boxes.

Right-Handed Fireman: You could conceptualize this as a direct García replacement, but it’s more specifically a high-leverage righty well-equipped to enter the game in dangerous situations and escape unscathed. 

Yariel Rodríguez has done some of this in 2025, but the relievers best-suited to this role have elite strikeout rates, groundball rates, or both. Rodríguez, for all of his excellent work this season, has neither.

Southpaw Who Elevates: Despite some of his struggles with walks, Brendon Little has been one of MLB’s most effective southpaw relievers with the third-best ERA and fourth-best fWAR among qualified lefties. 

Mason Fluharty looked good on Tuesday night, but a more proven second lefty would go a long way. Ideally, he would provide a different look than Little, who pounds the bottom of the zone with sinkers and curveballs. A reliever who wields high heat effectively would be a good fit.

Proven Closer: Jeff Hoffman is talented and well-compensated, but he’s not always consistent, and there are nights when he’s unavailable. Rodríguez has stepped in at times, but he has just 10 saves in his pro career at any level. Having someone who knows the role could be handy, as long as he has more to offer than merely experience. 

Taking a run at Kyle Finnegan just because he’s been a closer despite his velo drop and 4.62 ERA in 2025, for instance, isn’t necessarily the right idea.

Pure Gas Guy: Velocity isn’t everything, but it isn’t nothing. Certain hitters struggle with elite heat, and the Blue Jays don’t really have it. 

Among relievers who’ve pitched 10 MLB innings this year, the Toronto reliever with the highest average fastball velocity (Hoffman) ranks 55th league-wide. 

Quality Length: With Rodríguez working in the late innings and Eric Lauer in the rotation, the Blue Jays don’t have a dedicated long way — particularly for early-game situations. This isn’t a must, and Lauer could end up back in the bullpen in a playoff context, but it’s a notable gap in Toronto’s current relief group.

Now that we’ve laid out some of the possible types of relievers the Blue Jays could use most, let’s get specific with some examples that are likely to be available at the trade deadline.

Right-Handed Fireman — Jake Bird, COL

Age: 29
Contract Situation: $770K in 2025, arbitration eligible in 2026, 2027, and 2028.
Alternate Category Fit: Quality Length
2025 Stats: 10.49 K/9, 3.61 BB/9, 0.69 HR/9 in 52.1 IP for a 3.96 ERA with a 3.39 xERA 

Appeal to Blue Jays: The idea of taking a pitcher who’s already succeeding in Colorado and seeing if they can thrive in a better situation is always an appealing proposition.

Before 2025, Bird was a low-strikeout (7.91 K/9) groundballer, but this season he’s added a sweeper and ratcheted up his breaking ball usage to miss more bats.

His groundball rate has suffered slightly, but he’s still in the MLB’s 72nd percentile by that metric. Bird’s combination of missing bats and keeping the ball out of the air makes him ideal for tough situations, and he can also do multi-inning stints with ease, getting six or more outs in 10 of his appearances this season.

The biggest stumbling block with Bird could be acquisition cost, considering Bird’s negligible salary and the three-and-a-half years he’s under team control.

Age: 28
Contract Situation: $1.15M in 2025, arbitration eligible in 2026.
Alternate Category Fit: Pure Gas Guy
2025 Stats: 7.68 K/9, 3.29 BB/9, 132 HR/9 in 41 IP for a 3.51 ERA with a 4.09 xERA 

Appeal to Blue Jays: Burke isn’t a big name, but he complements Little stylistically by filling the top of the zone with his 96.0 m.p.h. fastball — the ninth-hardest among qualified lefty relievers. He’s also held left-handed hitters to a modest .689 OPS this season, and hadn’t allowed a single home run against them until Wednesday night.

The 28-year-old doesn’t have a lengthy track record of excellence, and nitpicking his low strikeout rate is fair, even if he missed plenty of bats last year (10.85 K/9).

Burke wouldn’t project to a consistent presence in late-game, high-leverage spots, but he’s a veteran who makes life difficult on left-handed bats. Adding him could allow the Blue Jays to save Little for the biggest moments and play the matchup game in earlier innings than they’ve been able to with only one trusted southpaw.

He also costs very little and is unlikely to earn a massive raise in arbitration next year. While the Los Angeles Angels won’t give him away, they’re unlikely to hold onto a second bullpen lefty with one-and-a-half years of team control too tightly, either.

Age: 30
Contract Situation: $5.9M in 2025, arbitration eligible in 2026.
Alternate Category Fit: Pure Gas Guy
2025 Stats: 12.34 K/9, 2.57 BB/9, 0.51 HR/9 in 35 IP for a 2.31 ERA with a 2.95 xERA and 15 saves.

Appeal to Blue Jays: Bednar will be highly sought after around the majors, and the appeal of a guy who’s been among MLB’s best relievers this decade is obvious. 

The right-hander has posted an ERA between 2.00 and 2.61 in four of the last five seasons (2024 was an off-year) with a total fWAR (5.9) that ranks eighth among all relievers since 2021.

He’s also been especially effective recently, allowing just one run (unearned) over his last 20.1 innings pitched with 26 strikeouts and only five walks.

Trading for Bednar would be the biggest in-season relief investment the Blue Jays have made in the Mark Shapiro-Ross Atkins era, but the right-hander’s reliability, low cost, and extra year of control could make it worthwhile.

Prioritizing closer experience could lead to a pursuit of long-in-the-tooth pitchers like Kenley Jansen or Raisel Iglesias, but it makes more sense to pull the trigger on an elite arm in his prime rather than overpay for name value alone.

Age: 30
Contract Situation: $8M in 2025, free agent in 2026.
Alternate Category Fit: N/A
2025 Stats: 11.57 K/9, 5.45 BB/9, 0.91 HR/9 in 39.2 IP for a 3.63 ERA with a 3.29 xERA 

Appeal to Blue Jays: Domínguez has a scary walk rate and the highest salary of anyone on this list, but he brings more juice than anyone in Toronto’s bullpen with a fastball averaging 97.7 m.p.h.

He also reliably misses bats and has settled in after some early-season struggles. Since the beginning of June, he’s produced a 1.96 ERA in 18 outings.

Domínguez is notoriously much harder against right-handed hitters than lefties, and this season, opponents are hitting just .132/.275/.184 when they don’t have the platoon advantage. Lefties, on the other hand, are hitting .288/.373/.470. That’s an exaggeration of his career splits, but not by a ludicrous margin, meaning he’s a pitcher who needs to be deployed carefully.

If used correctly, the 30-year-old could provide a boost to Toronto’s bullpen with a more modest prospect cost than some of the other pitchers on this list.

Age: 32
Contract Situation: $1M in 2025, free agent in 2026.
Alternate Category Fit: Southpaw Who Elevates
2025 Stats: 8.87 K/9, 3.36 BB/9, 0.67 HR/9 in 67 IP for a 3.49 ERA with a 4.03 xERA

Appeal to Blue Jays: Newcomb spent some time in the Boston Red Sox rotation this season before getting traded to the Athletics and settling in as a reliever.

Since the move to Oakland, he has a 2.77 ERA in 26 innings, and nine of his 17 outings have gone more than one inning — including a 3.1-inning scoreless gem against the Blue Jays on May 29.

Newcomb has also been solid against left-handed hitters this season, holding them to a .659 OPS, and he could have some dual utility as an early-game lefty specialist in shorter stints. His six-pitch repertoire is highly differentiated from Little’s, too.

The Athletics would be happy to get some value for a guy they picked off the scrap heap earlier in the year, and shouldn’t command too lofty a price for a complementary rental reliever like Newcomb.

If he were the Blue Jays’ top relief acquisition at the deadline, that would be a disappointing outcome for Toronto, but he could be a useful part of a larger incoming cohort.