TORONTO -- The Blue Jays have made their second move of the Trade Deadline, sending reliever Nate Pearson to the Cubs for a pair of prospects on Saturday afternoon.

Toronto acquired 23-year-old infielder Josh Rivera, Chicago¡¯s No. 23 prospect, and 22-year-old outfielder Yohendrick Pinango, Chicago¡¯s No. 29 prospect. The deal, which was first reported by ESPN¡¯s Jeff Passan, has not yet been confirmed by the club.

News of the trade broke just moments before the Blue Jays¡¯ 7-3 win over the Rangers on Saturday at Rogers Centre, shortly after the Blue Jays announced that current No. 1 prospect Ricky Tiedemann will undergo Tommy John surgery on Tuesday, ending his 2024 season and potentially taking all of ¡®25 with it. Prior to Tiedemann skyrocketing up the ranks, it was Pearson who the Blue Jays dreamed of as their No. 1 starter, ranking as the No. 8 prospect in all of baseball as one of the most promising young arms in the sport.

That clearly hasn¡¯t materialized. Pearson battled injuries for years and has since made the transition to the bullpen. It¡¯s been a classic story of a former top prospect, showing remarkable flashes of talent along the way but never quite putting it all together consistently. This season, Pearson has a 5.63 ERA with 51 strikeouts over 40 innings.

Pearson is still just 27 years old and under control through the 2026 season, making him a sensible upside play for a contender looking to strike gold. This also represents the Blue Jays stretching beyond their expiring deals at this Trade Deadline, which kicked off Friday when they sent Yimi Garc¨ªa to the Mariners for outfielder Jonatan Clase, the club¡¯s new No. 7 prospect.

TRADE DETAILS:
Blue Jays get: SS Josh Rivera, OF Yohendrick Pinango
Cubs get: RHP Nate Pearson

Rivera is a strong fielder, but has struggled in Double-A with a .169 average and .537 OPS over 68 games. Rivera was a third-round pick just a year ago out of the University of Florida, though, and given the Blue Jays¡¯ scouting presence in Florida, they surely have a good feel for Rivera and his potential upside.

Pinango, on the other hand, is primarily a left fielder and is hitting .263 with nine home runs and a .797 OPS between High-A and Double-A this season for the Cubs. This adds more position-player depth to the Blue Jays¡¯ system, and while this organization still needs more top-end talent to help shape its next core, adding some quantity in a deal for Pearson is a fine step.

Pinango now joins an outfield prospect depth group led by Clase, who came over in the Garc¨ªa deal, and Alan Roden, the on-base machine currently ranked as Toronto¡¯s No. 8 prospect who has gotten off to a slow start since being promoted to Triple-A. Given the pending departure of Kevin Kiermaier, Daulton Varsho is expected to slide to center field on a full-time basis in 2025 and beyond, leaving left field wide open for either a full-time starter or someone to platoon with Davis Schneider.

This is not expected to be Toronto¡¯s final move by any means. Yusei Kikuchi said after Friday¡¯s win that he spoke with general manager Ross Atkins recently, who told Kikuchi there is a ¡°pretty high likelihood¡± he will be traded. Danny Jansen, Justin Turner and Kiermaier are other options for the Blue Jays to trade on expiring deals while names like Chad Green and Isiah Kiner-Falefa could come up with control remaining in 2025.

Pearson¡¯s departure so soon after Garcia¡¯s will also swing the door wide open for someone to step up and seize an opportunity in Toronto¡¯s bullpen, which ranks 29th in baseball with a 4.95 ERA, better than only the Rockies.