The Toronto Blue Jays are a long way removed from the 2025 World Series Game 7.
The 2026 campaign was a huge step back for Toronto, missing the playoffs altogether, and it’s raising some fascinating offseason questions.
One of those topics of conversation centered around the idea of trading Alejandro Kirk.
In fact, former Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar and pitcher Ricky Romero discussed the idea of a deal with Blue Jays beat writer Mitch Bannon of The Athletic.
They called Kirk one of the Blue Jays’ most valuable trade chips:
Alejandro Kirk might be one of Toronto’s most VALUABLE trade chips. š
@KPILLAR4 questions what the Blue Jays could get in return for their All-Star catcher after an injury-plagued 2026 season. https://t.co/Iu6vVlPaHA
ā Blue Bird Territory (@BlueBirdTerr) October 11, 2026
They did not actually say the Blue Jays should or will trade Kirk.
Alejandro Kirk Trade Rumors
Bannon logged onto his X account on Sunday to clarify that the discussion from earlier in the day hadn’t been about trading Kirk.
It had just been suggesting how valuable Kirk really is.
This was Bannon’s follow-up post:
This clip has gained some misguided traction so, to be clear, Kevin, Ricky and I all agreed the Jays shouldn’t trade Kirk ā we were more discussing why there’s been trade talk about him.
In fact, I said he’s the exact mold of hitter the Jays covet, not a potential trade guy.
ā Mitch Bannon (@MitchBannon) October 11, 2026
Bannon is right on the fact that Kirk fits the Blue Jays quite well. He’s beloved by the fanbase, too.
If Toronto traded Kirk, they’d absolutely have to get the move right. Otherwise it would be criticized for years to come.
It might just be better to not make any trade at all.
Alejandro Kirk Contract
Kirk’s contract is another reason that the Blue Jays don’t have to do anything here.
He’s still under contract for four more seasons. He won’t be a free agent until after 2030.
He’s paid exactly the same amount in each of the next four years, too: $12.325 million.
That means that over the next four years, Kirk will be paid $49.3 million.
That’s totally fair for Kirk. If he was somehow a free agent right now, he would get paid a lot more than that.
The Blue Jays did well to get Kirk on this deal, and they aren’t going to start rebuilding or anything like that. It would be shocking to see them deal Kirk.
That’s why Bannon needed to go back on social media to clarify the scoop. Kirk isn’t close to being traded. In fact, it might be the opposite — the Blue Jays will gladly keep Kirk for years to come.
Blue Jays’ Alejandro Kirk Trade Chatter Made Clear