As the offseason kicks into gear, so will rumours circulating about free agency and trade candidates.
For the Blue Jays, in terms of the trade aspect, one area sticks out like a sore thumb: their glut of outfielders on the 40-man roster.
As of right now, the Blue Jays roster eight potential outfielders on their roster. Now factor in their rumoured pursuit of Kyle Tucker and the rumblings of Cody Bellinger, and something’s most definitely got to give. Whether it be someone getting designated for assignment, claimed in the Rule 5 Draft, or traded, there will be movement in this area of the Blue Jays’ depth chart.
We’ll examine three potential trade candidates from the bloated Blue Jays outfield tree.
Joey Loperfido
Loperfido had an interesting 2025 season.
In his abbreviated time with the Blue Jays, he put up really good numbers, having slashed .333/.379/.500 with four homers and a 148 wRC+. However, everything under the hood was not nearly as impressive, indicating what Loperfido was doing wasn’t sustainable, and the Blue Jays seemed to agree, as they slashed his playing time completely come September while also leaving him off the postseason roster for the vast majority of October. He made a brief pinch-hit cameo in Game 5 of the ALCS against Seattle when he was added onto the roster in the middle of the series when Santander went down, and that was it.
Still, he’s only 26, and there may be a team out there willing to give him a full season’s worth of playing time to see what they’re working with.
Nathan Lukes
Before we get into this one, let me just say I think the only way the Blue Jays entertain a Lukes trade this winter is if they land Kyle Tucker, which would then make the veteran outfielder fit on the roster extremely difficult.
So let’s say the Blue Jays did land Tucker. Lukes market would be restricted in terms of teams interested. While he does still have five years of club control remaining, he is already 31 years old with little projection (ceiling) left. A rebuilding team won’t be interested here, and particular teams may not want to acquire him if he’s slated for arbitration in the near future.
So it then becomes a need-for-need situation where a team that needs a strong side platoon outfielder and has an excess of relievers would become a strong trade partner for the Blue Jays. The San Diego Padres come to mind as a potential match here.
Yohendrick Pinango
Pinango is fascinating; the minor league numbers have never matched his pristine batted ball data. Pinango has always been a model darling. He hits the stuffing out of the baseball, in the air, and doesn’t chase much.
It’s a bit peculiar that the Blue Jays left him off the 40-man roster, leaving him available for 29 other teams to pluck up in next month’s Rule 5 draft. If he does somehow survive that ordeal, I expect there to be healthy interest in the 23-year-old from data-driven organizations who feel they could unlock him with some tweaks to his mechanics. From a personal standpoint, I would prefer the above two outfielders listed already get traded before Pinango.
I’d be really interested to see what Pop and Lou could do if they ever got the opportunity to work with Pinango. The data is sterling, just look for yourself.
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