Toronto Blue Jays acquire pitchers Bieber, Varland

TORONTO – The fit was worth the risk for Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins.

The Blue Jays made a splash on MLB trade deadline day, acquiring right-hander Shane Bieber, a former American League Cy Young winner, from the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday. Cleveland received righty Khal Stephen, a 22-year-old minor-league pitcher ranked the No. 5 prospect in Toronto’s system by MLB Pipeline.

Bieber, 30, is nearing a return from Tommy John surgery and hasn’t pitched in the majors this season.

“A really good fit for us, we have some staff members who know Shane well and we do a lot of work understanding every player in the game,” Atkins said during a press conference. “Felt like we had a little more insight into him. Really good fit from a teammate, character and drive and competitiveness standpoint.

“Also, because of where he is from a rehab standpoint, fits very well for our already solid five-man rotation. Any good baseball team needs depth and options and we got a very good one.”

Atkins was enticed by the upside Bieber presents for Toronto.

“The risk is almost, in some ways, the exciting aspect of it because of the upside,” Atkins said. “The upside is just so big and I think what makes it riskier is the fact that he’s not pitching in major league games right now.

“Our work has given us a great deal of confidence that he is someone that can minimize that or mitigate it, to a very high level based on his work ethic and commitment.”

Bieber has posted a 1.59 earned-run average and 0.71 WHIP across four rehab starts, including a seven-strikeout performance over four innings Tuesday with Double-A Akron.

“He looked like Shane Bieber. That’s what our scout that was there said,” Atkins said of Bieber’s latest showing. “That’s what our looks as we watched him on video, and any information we could gather, said this looks like the Shane Bieber that has dominated before.”

Bieber had spent his entire career with Cleveland since he was drafted in 2016, compiling a 62-32 record with a 3.22 ERA over 136 big-league appearances. He’s also a two-time all-star, a Gold Glove recipient and was named MVP of the 2019 all-star game.

Bieber won the Cy Young in 2020 during the pandemic-shortened 60-game season, after leading the majors in wins (8), ERA (1.63) and strikeouts (122). He became just the ninth pitcher since 1913 to claim MLB’s Triple Crown.

He agreed to a one-year, US$14-million contract last fall with a $16-million player option for 2026.

Toronto also picked up right-handed pitcher Louis Varland and first baseman Ty France from the Minnesota Twins, as well as catching prospect Brandon Valenzuela from the San Diego Padres.

Toronto sent outfielder Alan Roden and left-handed pitcher Kendry Rojas to the Twins, and dealt infielder Will Wagner to the Padres on Thursday.

The Jays continued to load up on pitchers after adding reliever Seranthony Dominguez from the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.

Varland, 27, posted a 2.02 earned-run average, which ranks sixth among AL relievers, through 51 games with the Twins this season. The six-foot-one, 205-pound thrower has played 89 games, including 22 starts, over four seasons with Minnesota. His record was 8-14 with a 4.62 ERA.

Atkins said the Jays got what they were looking for with Varland.

“He has been very effective this year as a reliever,” Atkins said. “Has as good of a fastball as you can find, has as good of a curveball as you can find with a very effective cutter, he can sink it.

“He’s extremely aggressive, he’s coming after you, and that’s attractive to us. So, immediately impacts our bullpen in a significant way in addition to Seranthony and we’ll see what happens beyond that.”

The 31-year-old France hit .251 in 101 games for the Twins this year, including 19 doubles, six home runs and 44 RBIs. The Californian has appeared in 803 career MLB games with San Diego, Seattle, Cincinnati and Minnesota.

The 24-year-old Valenzuela hit 14 doubles, a triple, a dozen home runs and 46 RBIs while carrying an on-base plus slugging percentage of .700 through 87 games for Double-A San Antonio this season.

The catcher from Hermosillo, Mexico, has thrown out 25 base runners. His 34.7 per cent caught-stealing percentage ranks second among all Double-A catchers.

Roden appeared in 43 games for Toronto this year with a batting average of .204, seven extra-base hits and eight RBIs. The 25-year-old was named the Blue Jays Minor League Player of the Year in 2024.

The 22-year-old Rojas started 10 games across four levels in the Blue Jays’ minor-league system this season for an ERA of 3.46 over 41.2 innings.

Wagner, from Houston, Texas, appeared in 40 games for the Blue Jays this season with a batting average of .237, seven extra-base hits and seven RBIs.

Toronto acquired Wagner, 27, from the Astros at last season’s trade deadline along with outfielder Joey Loperfido and pitcher Jake Bloss in exchange for pitcher Yusei Kikuchi.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2025.

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