Blue Jays trade 6.69 ERA lefty to Dodgers for interesting return

Blue Jays trade 6.69 ERA lefty to Dodgers for interesting return originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Toronto Blue Jays have had a bit of a rough 2026 season, coming off their heartbreaking World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

At 20-25, the Blue Jays are 10 games out of the AL East race, though they're just one game back of being tied for the third Wild Card spot. Toronto is likely to buy at the deadline, but that doesn't mean they won't consider a shakeup on the MLB roster.

The Blue Jays announced a trade on Sunday afternoon, and it was a somewhat unexpected deal with the Dodgers. The Blue Jays are sending a 6.69 ERA lefty reliever to Los Angeles for an interesting return.

Blue Jays agree to interesting trade with Dodgers

"OFFICIAL: We've. traded LHP Eric Lauer and cash considerations to the Dodgers in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations," the Blue Jays announced.

This is a very interesting trade for the Blue Jays for a few reasons. Eric Lauer was recently designated for assignment, though the odds of a trade being agreed to were high.

It's worth sending a little something to the Blue Jays to get a chance to see if Lauer, who's posted a 6.69 ERA this season, can put those struggles behind him and put up the 3.18 ERA production he had for Toronto last year on a new team in 2026.

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That new team is the Dodgers, which is an interesting landing spot. He's leaving one World Series team from last year for another, which is an interesting tidbit on its own.

But, with the return for Lauer being uncertain at the moment, either being cash considerations or a player to be named later, the Blue Jays might be able to land a prospect or fringe MLB player from this Lauer trade later this year.

With the Blue Jays trying to return to the postseason after a shaky start to the 2026 season, they DFA'd Lauer and now have agreed to a trade with the Dodgers for an interesting return that will be completed at a later date.