Blue Jays keep adding, land versatile Smith from Rangers

HOUSTON -- With the rest of the trade market waiting for the Blue Jays to sell, they’ve turned around and made another addition.

Hours after adding José Soriano from the Angels for a package headlined by No. 2 prospect Arjun Nimmala, Toronto announced it has agreed to terms on another trade, with the Rangers for infielder Josh Smith.

In the deal, first reported by Evan Grant, the Blue Jays will acquire Smith and Triple-A righty Josh Stephan in exchange for left-hander Adam Macko, who’s seen multiple stints with the big club this season.

TRADE DETAILS:

Toronto gets: INF Josh Smith, RHP Josh Stephan
Texas gets: LHP Adam Macko

This deal captures a Blue Jays front office that is open to anything at the Trade Deadline. They’ve already “sold” Kevin Gausman and “bought” Soriano, but this deal falls somewhere in the middle, supplementing the Blue Jays’ position player depth while adding a depth starter in Triple-A, which could be valuable down the stretch.

This has been a difficult season for Smith, who’s batting just .213 with a .571 OPS over 45 big league games, but his 2024-25 seasons paint a different picture. Across those two seasons, Smith put up a .716 OPS while playing all over the diamond at second, third and the corner-outfield spots. This gives Smith pathways to potential playing time down the stretch in Toronto, depending on what other moves are made, and he could be a useful depth piece going forward.

Smith is under club control for two more seasons and still has option years remaining, which could be very valuable if he sticks with the organization through arbitration. The stretch run in Toronto could determine just how likely that is.

Stephan is an important part of the package, too, a 24-year-old who has posted a 5.44 ERA over 101 innings this season in Triple-A. He’s lost some of his prospect shine this season and was unranked on the Rangers’ Top 30 list, but the Blue Jays have been thin on true “starters” in Triple-A this season and would like to have a more stable group moving forward. If Stephan can settle in and develop into an optionable pitcher capable of making the odd spot start, that would be a great development.

Macko was one of the best development stories in the Blue Jays’ system. The Slovakian-born lefty made a quick stop in Ireland before coming to Canada, where he played high school ball in Alberta. Macko recently represented Team Canada at the World Baseball Classic, too, and owned a 4.91 ERA over 22 innings in the big leagues this season.