The 2026 MLB trade deadline has come and gone, and the Toronto Blue Jays are, in many ways, transformed.
In many others, however, the status quo has remained.
As an example, George Springer remains with the club despite the fact he's a pending free agent and Toronto's 52-60 record gives it only a 6.2 per cent chance to make the playoffs this year, according to FanGraphs.
The reason why a player like Springer remains on the team is simple. According to Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins, Springer remains a key part of a team that is still looking to compete.
"(We) just felt like it was important for him to be here," Atkins told reporters after the trade deadline expired on Monday. "We wanted him here as we continue to push forward."
Atkins did concede that the way the season has gone after his team made it to Game 7 of the World Series has not been according to plan, and the team did end up trading away pieces — Kevin Gausman, Daulton Varsho and Jeff Hoffman, namely — but the plan remains for the team to be competitive moving forward and try to win games with the addition of a pitcher like Jose Soriano.
"Obviously disappointed not to be adding to this group that we believe in and at the start of the season had so much great hope for and would much prefer that we were in a position to not be subtracting some of the great teammates and names that have been here and just have been adding to them," Atkins said. "We are fortunate that we were able to add some major-league pieces to a group that we feel like can compete and, ultimately, had to make the decision that we were determined to do what was best for the organization and try to optimize things given a situation that was less than ideal and we feel good about our outcome."
In addition to Springer, other surprise veterans who remain Blue Jays are pitchers Shane Bieber and Max Scherzer. Atkins said they are still on the club now because, like with Springer, they continue to add to the team's vision of winning ballgames in the immediate.
"We felt that because we have so much support here, it wasn't necessary that we trade them and there was benefit to us continuing to compete, benefit to individuals like Max and George and Shane being here to impact others individually and impact us winning baseball games."
Bieber will get the start as the sort-of-new-look Blue Jays take on Varsho and the Houston Astros Monday night at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
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