The Louis Varland trade was largely unpopular among Twins Territory when the news broke on July 31. Varland, 28, had a 2.02 ERA over 49 innings in 2025 when the trade occurred on July 31, hails from Minnesota and is under team control through the end of the 2030 season.
Despite the trade angering fans, the Twins got a solid return for Varland (and first baseman Ty France), receiving outfielder Alan Roden, who is off to a hot start this spring, and left-handed pitching prospect Kendry Rojas.
The Minnesota Star Tribune's Bobby Nightengale recently revisited the blockbuster deal, reporting that the Blue Jays began asking about Varland three months before he was dealt at last summer's Trade Deadline. Nightengale added that the Twins wanted either Rojas or righty Trey Yesavage to be included in a package for Varland, but Toronto wasn't willing to give up either pitcher. Obviously, the Blue Jays changed their mind by dealing Rojas.
Rojas has the potential to be a star. His fastball reaches high-90s, and his slider and split-changeup frequently generate swing-and-misses. In his first Grapefruit League outing, the lefty struck out Atlanta Braves stars Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley.
Still, it's hard not to wish the Twins had received Yesavage over Rojas. Yesavage, 22, was just in High-A when the Blue Jays began asking about Varland, and was in Double-A when the trade occurred. Then, the Blue Jays called him up to the big leagues in mid-September. The righty allowed five earned runs with 16 strikeouts in 14 innings across three regular-season starts before becoming a postseason hero for the Blue Jays.
Twins fans likely wish Minnesota received Blue Jays' Trey Yesavage in Varland trade
Yesavage, who is known for his dominant splitter, made five postseason starts for Toronto last year. He hurled 5 1/3 scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts against the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the ALDS. After a rough outing in ALCS Game 2 against the Seattle Mariners, where the righty allowed five runs over four innings, Yesavage bounced back by allowing just two runs across 5 2/3 innings en route to earning the victory in a must-win ALCS Game 6.
Yesavage played a key role in getting Toronto two outs from winning the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowing two runs across four innings in the Blue Jays' World Series Game 1 victory before a clutch, seven-inning performance in World Series Game 5 in which the righty surrendered just one run with 12 strikeouts across seven innings en route to earning the win. He then allowed one run on a homer to Max Muncy in World Series Game 7, which the Blue Jays lost 5-4 in extra innings.
Rojas has a nasty pitch arsenal, and Roden clearly has a lot of potential. But Yesavage has already proved he can be a dominant big-league starter in high-pressure situations, making it hard not to wish the Twins had received Yesavage in the Varland trade.