After signing Dylan Cease to a seven-year deal worth $210 million, the Toronto Blue Jays have a full rotation for 2026.

Cease will join Shane Bieber, Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios and Trey Yesavage in the rotation as Toronto looks to get back to the World Series for the second straight season.

However, with the rotation now full, the Blue Jays do have a surplus of arms, leading to questions about if they should deal one for bullpen help, bench help or prospect help.

Let's look at some of the candidates and the overall situation:

Starting pitchers on the 40-man roster who no longer have a chance at a rotation spot

--Top 10 prospect Jake Bloss, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery

--Lazaro Estrada, who went 4-7 at Triple-A Buffalo with a 5.73 ERA in 2025

--Adam Macko, who went 3-9 with a 4.76 ERA in the minor leagues in 2025.

--Bowden Francis, who went 8-5 with a 3.30 ERA in 27 games in 2024, but went just 2-8 with a 6.05 in 14 starts in 2025

--Eric Lauer, who served in a hybrid-role in 2025, going 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA in 28 appearances

--Ricky Tiedemann, a former Top 100 prospect who is coming back from his own Tommy John surgery. He's likely to come up as a reliever, at least for next season, because of workload concerns.

The reason for making a trade

It's pretty plainly stated above: The Jays have five starters already penciled in. They do not necessarily need everyone in the list above. If there's a deal to be made, they should listen.

The reason against making a trade

Injury is the obvious one, as depth is always needed. The other? Gausman and Bieber are free agents at the end of 2026. Just as quickly as you have depth now, you will potentially be at a deficit moving forward.

Who is most likely to go?

Francis feels the most likely, given that he's about to turn 30 years old in April. He's caught between being a prospect and a veteran who doesn't have a place. He'd be a plug-and-play option for another organization and therefore might be able to bring something of value back to Toronto.

Lauer feels like a must-stay given his ability to help the team in multiple areas and Tiedemann feels like an impact arm in the bullpen (and starting one day).

Bloss is still a Top-10 prospect in the organization and is affordable, so it feels like there's no sense on giving up on him, either.

Outside the box idea

While the Jays have given no indication that they want to move him, could they move Berrios, who went 9-5 with a 4.18 ERA this season? He's a generally-durable innings eater with three years left on his contract. The Blue Jays could just as easily keep him, but if they want to shed any of his money, could they find a taker for at least some portion of his three-year deal with $67 million remaining?

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