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The Athletics are looking at Blue Jays bullpen arms, and that kind of trade talk should make Toronto pause before it does anything rash.
The pitch from the A's side is simple enough. Toronto needs another bat with George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, Addison Barger, and Anthony Santander on the injured list, while Daulton Varsho was pulled with left knee discomfort.
That creates an opening for a deal built around Andy Ibáñez, a right-handed utility bat who has barely played in Sacramento. He had started 3 games and logged just 14 at-bats while hitting .143 with a .200 OBP.
From a Blue Jays angle, the fit is obvious in the short term. Toronto has been short on healthy bats, and the club had scored 5 total runs over its previous 3 games entering this debate.
But the part that should worry the Blue Jays is the price. The A's piece points to left-handers Brendon Little or Joe Mantiply as the sort of arms Oakland could chase in return.
That is where this idea starts to look lopsided. Ibáñez may help cover at-bats for a few weeks, but left-handed bullpen arms with swing-and-miss stuff do not come cheap, even when the surface numbers look shaky.
Little is the name that should stop Toronto cold. Last season he struck out 30.8% of hitters over 68.1 innings and posted a 3.03 ERA, even with a 15.3% walk rate.
Toronto would be trading need for a bigger one
Yes, Little opened 2026 poorly with a 24.55 ERA before getting optioned to Buffalo. But the same report notes he has not allowed a run in 5 minor-league innings since the demotion.
That matters because Toronto would not be dealing from depth. It would be moving one of the more interesting left-handed arms in the organization for a stopgap hitter who has not forced his way into Oakland's lineup.
Mantiply is the more understandable name in these talks. He is 35, on the 26-man roster, and headed for free agency after the season, which makes him easier to move than Little.
Even there, the call is not clean. Mantiply owns a 4.76 ERA and a 3.87 FIP in 5.2 innings with Toronto, plus a 37.5% strikeout rate that suggests there is still real life in the arm.
The Blue Jays do need lineup help right now. But chasing Ibáñez by sending out left-handed relief depth feels like solving one roster problem by creating another.
That is why this proposal feels thin from Toronto's side. The A's may see a clean match, but the Blue Jays should see a move that could patch the bench today and leave the bullpen worse off when games tighten later.
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