Jansen ends power outage amid weight of nearing Trade Deadline

SAN FRANCISCO — There it is, a glimpse of the real Danny Jansen.

He’d been missing for nearly two months until his first-inning home run cleared the left-field wall at Oracle Park in the series finale, his first long ball since May 20. There’s so much more to who Jansen is and what he means to this organization, but his identity as a hitter is his power, a swing exactly like this one.

“That definitely felt good,” Jansen said. “I’ve been grinding for the past however many weeks, but I’ve been trying to have good at-bats and pass it on to the next guy. To square one up definitely felt good and I just want to build off that.”

Just like Yusei Kikuchi’s career-high 13 strikeouts in Tuesday’s opener, though, Jansen’s home run in Thursday afternoon’s 5-3 win comes with a “but.” Jansen, like Kikuchi, will be a free agent after this season, and they are playing for a team that’s clearly headed towards selling. With only 19 days and 14 games between now and the July 30 Trade Deadline, everything lives in that light, good days included.

No player’s roots run deeper than Jansen’s in this organization. A 16th-round Draft pick out of high school in 2013, Jansen has spent 12 years with the Blue Jays. He’s grown up in Toronto’s organization, gotten married and just had his second child with his wife, Alexis. The Blue Jays have been the backdrop to all of this, and it’s still difficult to remember that Jansen is only 29 years old, given how long he’s been around.

That’s why any mention of Jansen’s name alongside the Trade Deadline, free agency or anything else that involves him wearing a different uniform is so uncomfortable. Jansen has earned so much respect with the Blue Jays as a beloved teammate to so many.

“The biggest thing you want in a catcher is a bulldog back there, and that’s Danny through and through,” said starter Kevin Gausman. “He wants to be in the trenches with you. He’s a grimy guy. He’s fine getting dirty. That’s what you need for that position and he fits it perfectly. Jano is one of my favorite teammates I’ve played with and that batterymate relationship is huge.”

Jansen, as he has for the past decade-plus, is saying all the right things.

“Something I try to do daily is control what I can control. I can’t control [rumors],” Jansen said. “What I can control is my preparation, being present and my effort. I just try to keep it at that.”

Jansen’s season has led two lives. On the day he hit his last home run, Jansen was batting .333 with a 1.079 OPS. He looked like an All-Star after missing the first two weeks of the season with a fractured right wrist, and his timing couldn’t have been better with free agency just months away.

Since then, we’ve seen a different Jansen. Between that home run and Thursday, Jansen hit just .142 with a .443 OPS over 33 games. These next few weeks will matter so much to Jansen’s future, wherever that takes him, but any move back in the right direction had to start with his power stroke.

“He’s a big part of our lineup. Him hitting the ball like that, we’ve been missing that for a while,” manager John Schneider said.

Dealing a catcher isn’t like dealing a utility man. There are typically fewer suitors, but each year, a handful of catchers move. Seattle’s acquisition of Curt Casali and Minnesota’s deal for Sandy León in 2022 are examples. Houston traded for Christian Vázquez that same year, sending its No. 28 and 29 prospects to Boston. Perhaps that’s the most useful comparison here, particularly if Jansen hits well over the next two weeks.

Along with Kikuchi, Yimi García, Justin Turner and Kevin Kiermaier, the Blue Jays are facing decisions on all of their players who have a contract that expires at the end of 2024. That seems to be where this organization’s focus is, keeping hope for ‘25 alive. Let’s not rule out the possibility of Jansen re-signing in Toronto, either, but for now, he’s letting the business side be the business side.

“It’s part of the game, right? It’s something you learn,” Jansen said. “I’m grateful to be in this situation, of course. I’m trying to control what I can control, keep my head down and keep working.”

Jansen is so appreciated by this organization because those words aren’t just fluff. He’s been that “bulldog” for so many pitchers, and when his power stroke shows up, it’s even more difficult to envision a future without Jansen in Toronto.