‘We’re obviously fired up’: Blue Jays GM speaks following MLB trade deadline. Here’s what he said

Toronto Blue Jays General Manager Ross Atkins takes questions on the team's flurry of moves ahead of the MLB trade deadline.

Ross Atkins, the general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, addressed the media after the Major League Baseball trade deadline passed at 6 p.m. ET. Thursday evening.

The Jays went into the deadline expecting to be buyers, after finishing July with 18 wins, the most in the league, and a 64-46 record.

The Toronto Blue Jays first move ahead of the deadline was acquiring right-handed relief pitcher Seranthony Dominguez and cash considerations from the Baltimore Orioles. In exchange, the Jays sent pitching prospect Juaron Watts-Brown over to Baltimore.

The Blue Jays also picked up former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber from the Cleveland Guardians, right-hand pitcher Louis Varland and first baseman Ty France from the Minnesota Twins, and catching prospect Brandon Valenzuela from the San Diego Padres.

Here’s what Atkins had to say about the moves.

7:40 p.m. - Staff spoke to players about what they wanted to see happen

“We touch base with our staff who were talking to our players,” Atkins explained.

“I talked to several players about our needs and about what was important to them. I took feedback from them when they wanted to share it. The environment is something that’s always important to us and the hardest thing to nail. It’s always something that you have to constantly be working to improve, and was very much a part of our the equation for us.”

Atkins pointed to exchanging Wagner and Roden for some of the new pieces and said it’s “always difficult” and “never easy” to part ways with players.

7:36 p.m. - Blue Jays’ record helped with trade deadline

Atkins said the team sitting atop the American League East helped with the moves they were able to make, which was different from previous years.

“We were in a position to trade from areas of depth, and we had the top end talent to access almost anything that we wanted to access. So, it just comes down to lining up what the the exchange is going to be relative to what (the other team) is able to acquire elsewhere,” he said.

“It was an extremely competitive year where we felt like we could compete in every level of the market.”

7:32 p.m. - Jays had been chasing Louis Varland from the Twins for two years: Atkins

The Blue Jays also picked up right-hand pitcher Louis Varland from the Minnesota Twins just ahead of the deadline closing.

“I think probably because he wasn’t known to be as available, you know someone that has that much control isn’t an obvious target, so we were very aggressive in trying to acquire him that it’s not the traditional trade,” explained Atkins on why the team focused on picking up Varland.

“He has been very effective this year as a reliever, has as good of a fastball as you can find, and has as good of a curve ball as you can find with a very effective cutter. He’s extremely aggressive. He’s coming after you, and that’s attractive to us and immediately impacts our bullpen in a significant way, in addition to Seranthony.”

Atkins said he liked Varland a lot and had begun discussing options with the Twins two years ago, and his recent change from a starter to a reliever allowed the Jays to chase more aggressively this trade deadline.

7:28 p.m. - Atkins’ hoping to get Bieber ‘back to his potential’

“Obviously the guy has performed very well and on really big stages, has been the best pitcher in the game at certain points, so that was important to us,” Atkins said when discussing Bieber.

“We’re going to take it one start at a time. He just made a rehab start, and he’ll make another one in the coming days.”

Bieber has not pitched in the MLB since undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2024, but has made four starts in the minor leagues and is believed to be nearing a return to the majors.

A two-time all star, Bieber won the Cy Young Award as the American League’s top pitcher in 2020.

He has recorded a 1.59 ERA in four rehab starts so far this season.

“It will be hard to surpass his ceiling, what he has accomplished,” said Atkins. “So, just getting him back to his potential would be him doing exceptionally well for us, so that’s what we’ll focus on with him, and we’re really, really glad that he’s here.”

7:24 p.m. - ‘We made our team better’

Atkins said he believes their grabs made the team better and is satisfied that the team’s goals were met.

“We were focused on prevention and adding to our pitching and I feel that we accomplished that goal,” he explained.

“We were also hoping to add to our offensive which we were able to do without subtracting from too many pieces that are already impacting our major league environment. So, that is a very good outcome, and some of the players that we’ve acquired will be here for some time.”

Atkins said he believes from an overall standpoint he feels very good about accomplishing the team’s goals.

7:22 p.m. - ‘A really good for for us’: Atkins comments on Bieber acquisition

Toronto added a couple of arms during their dealings, including former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber from the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for pitching prospect Khal Stephen.

“(Bieber’s) a really good fit for us,” said Atkins.

“We have some staff members that know Shane well, and you know, we do a lot of work on understanding every player in the game, but felt like we had a little more insight into him.”

“So, a really good fit from a teammate, from a character and just a drive and competitiveness standpoint, also where he is from a rehab standpoint. He fits very well for our already solid five-man rotation. Any good baseball team needs depth and options and we added that.”

7:20 p.m. - Atkins speaks on Jays’ deals made ahead of trade deadline

“We’re obviously fired up to be in the position that we’re acquiring talent, and we’re really excited for the organization, the fans, the players, the staff that have just earned this opportunity,” Atkins said.

“We feel that we were very aggressive at the deadline and were able to accomplish our goals and made the team better.”