Blue Jays trade Will Wagner to Padres for Brandon Valenzuela

Acquiring Valenzuela — who wasn’t on the Padres’ 40-man roster and is Rule 5-eligible this winter — brings much-needed support to the Blue Jays’ minor-league catching depth. With Wagner headed to the West Coast, the move also frees up a 40-man roster spot for Toronto ahead of a potential roster crunch post-trade deadline.

The 24-year-old is considered a glove-first prospect, regarded for his fielding behind the plate and ability to throw out base stealers — he’s nabbed over a third of them across 71 attempts this season.

Valenzuela was signed out of Mexico as an international free agent in 2017 and was previously ranked as the Padres’ No. 26 prospect per MLB Pipeline. He’s a switch-hitting catcher and has yet to establish much offensive upside thus far. However, he has displayed some power in 87 games at double-A in ’25, hitting 12 home runs with a .159 ISO and 106 wRC+ (100 league average), despite featuring a measly .229/.313/.387 slash line.

The 6-foot-1 backstop doesn’t strike out much, though, as evidenced by his 22.2-per-cent rate, which has paired nicely with his 10.7-per-cent walk rate this season.

Wagner arrived in Toronto as part of last season’s package from the Houston Astros — also included Jake Bloss and Joey Loperfido — in the Yusei Kikuchi trade. While the organization seemed fairly high on the 27-year-old at the time, the left-handed-hitting infielder had fallen down the depth chart following last off-season’s Andrés Giménez trade, leaving him without a clear pathway to stick with the big-league club.

In 40 games since being called up from triple-A Buffalo, Wagner had been struggling offensively and slashed .237/.336/.298 with an 85 wRC+, though he did maintain his dependable plate discipline with an 11.4-per-cent walk rate compared to his 19.7-per-cent strikeout rate.

After adding Seranthony Domínguez on Tuesday and Shane Bieber earlier Thursday, the Blue Jays remain active in the trade market ahead of the 6 p.m. ET deadline, seeking to acquire another reliever and likely a right-handed bat.