Cubs acquire Kevin Gausman from Blue Jays ahead of MLB trade deadline

The trade package and return

The Chicago Cubs acquired veteran right-hander Kevin Gausman from the Toronto Blue Jays late on August 2, 2026, less than 24 hours before Major League Baseball's 6 p.m. trade deadline on August 3. Toronto received Triple-A outfielder Brett Bateman and Class-A infielder Ty Southisene in the deal. Bateman, 24, was an eighth-round pick in 2023 and was hitting .312 across 81 games for Triple-A Iowa, while Southisene, 21, was a fourth-round pick in 2024 batting .311 at two Class-A levels with 31 combined stolen bases.

Gausman's profile and recent form

Gausman, 35, is 5-10 with a 4.38 ERA and 127 strikeouts across 23 starts this season and is in the final year of a five-year, $110 million contract signed with Toronto before the 2022 season. He is owed $23 million in 2027, giving the Cubs more than a short-term rental. Across his final two Blue Jays starts, he posted a 3.09 ERA with 10 strikeouts and two walks in 11.2 innings, including allowing one earned run over 5.2 innings against St. Louis on Saturday. He has compiled a 3.83 ERA in 14 career playoff appearances and helped Toronto reach the World Series in 2025. From 2020 to 2025, Gausman posted a 3.36 ERA, finished third in AL Cy Young voting in 2023, and registered 20.1 WAR over the life of his contract, the fourth-best mark in baseball in that span.

How he fits the Cubs' rotation

Gausman joins Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, and recently acquired left-hander David Peterson near the top of a Chicago rotation that entered August ranked 14th in ERA (4.23), 22nd in strikeout rate (20.5%), 23rd in opponent slugging (.420), and 29th in home runs allowed (102). His fastball-changeup combination has been his primary weapon, though his breaking ball has lagged behind, and he remains the career Statcast-era leader in strikeouts via the splitter with 490. Chicago trailed the Milwaukee Brewers by 6.5 games in the National League entering the deadline and entered August 3 with a 61-51 record following a 2-1 loss to the New York Yankees.

What it signals for both clubs

For the Cubs, the acquisition addresses their stated deadline priority of adding a playoff-caliber starter to a rotation weakened by injuries. For Toronto, which fell to 52-60 and sat 13.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East entering August 3, dealing Gausman rather than keeping him for the remaining year of his deal signals a pivot toward younger assets.

Reporting and next outing

ESPN's Jeff Passan and The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Mitch Bannon first reported the agreement. Gausman's first Cubs appearance could come as soon as August 6, when Chicago hosts Toronto in a makeup game at Wrigley Field.