Congratulations are in order for Toronto Blue Jays reliever Louis Varland, who won the first-ever American League Reliever of the Year Award on Wednesday night. He beat Cleveland Guardians closer Cade Smith.

While the win was great for Varland individually, it was also great for the organization, who saw starting pitcher Dylan Cease finish second in the American League Cy Young voting, finishing just behind Cam Schlittler of the New York Yankees (110 points for Cease).

A 28-year-old native of Minnesota, Varland is now a five-year veteran of the Minnesota Twins and Blue Jays. The Blue Jays acquired him at the trade deadline in 2025 and he played an integral role in the team's run to the World Series, and he was even more important in 2026.

He appeared in 71 games, pitching to a 1.27 ERA in 78.0 innings. He struck out 97 hitters in that time, and his ability to go multiple innings was a huge advantage for his skipper. That was also the case in 2025, as he has become of the most versatile relievers in the league.

Though he started the season as a set-up man, he had taken the closer's job from Jeff Hoffman by May, and he finished the year with 35 saves, also earning his first All-Star Game appearance.

With Hoffman traded at the deadline, Varland will have a clear path to the closer's role moving forward.

He was named to the Sporting News All-Star Game already this offseason, so this was just the continuation of a great year for him across the board.

The Jays are in Las Vegas for the general manager's meetings, which began on Monday and will run until Thursday. Because of the looming labor situation and the expected lockout, the Jays have a compressed timeline to get things done.

We learned on Wednesday that they will meet with two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal in California next week, and we've seen them connected to second baseman Brandon Lowe.

Curiously enough, we haven't heard much in the way of connection to Seiya Suzuki or Randy Arozarena, two players we speculated would be good fits for the roster. Suzuki was mentioned right at the outset of the offseason, but his market seems to be picking up, with the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox both interested, per reports from multiple outlets.