2 smart decisions and 2 clear failures on 2025 Blue Jays Opening Day roster

After enduring a disappointing 2024 MLB season, the Toronto Blue Jays worked hard to retool their roster this offseason with the hopes of becoming competitive for 2025. Whether it be from trades, free agent signings or waiver claims, the Jays' roster underwent a huge makeover in the hopes of bringing a World Series title to Toronto.

As a result, the Blue Jays made some bold moves when they finalized their 2025 Opening Day roster. Some of them look great, while some others don't.

2 smart decisions and 2 clear failures on 2025 Blue Jays Opening Day roster

Smart decision: Trading for Andrés Giménez and batting him in the heart of the order

Last December, the Jays made a surprising offseason move when they acquired second baseman Andrés Giménez and pitched Nick Sandlin from the Cleveland Guardians. The Jays entered the offseason in desperate need for offense, outfield and pitching help, so the addition of Sandlin made sense. But, on the other side, the addition of Giménez baffled many observers. 

First of all, Toronto already had an logjam of infielders at the time, so adding another one didn't seem like a high need. Secondly, his offensive numbers had been on the decline in each of the past two seasons, so it's not like Giménez looked like a big offensive addition.

However, the 26-year-old infielder has sure proved us wrong so fa. During spring training, Giménez batted .283 with two home runs, 11 RBI and two stolen bases in 18 games while playing Gold Glove caliber defense.

That strong performance led to Giménez batting leadoff on Opening Day, and he delivered right away by slugging a home run in his first game with his new ballclub. What appeared to be a questionable move this past offseason could now be a huge positive. This is a trade that has looked better by the day.

Failure: Final bullpen makeup

When the Jays did their massive overhaul of their bullpen this past winter in the hopes of putting last year's distraous performance in the rearview mirror. The additions of solid arms such as Sandlin and Jeff Hoffman strengthen their core, while also returning stalwarts like Chad Green, Yimi García and Brendon Little.

However they made some interesting decisions at the end of the bullpen when they added Richard Lovelady and Jacob Barnes as the last arms in the unit while, while letting Ryan Yarbrough join the New York Yankees.

While the move also left the Blue Jays without a strong arm, it also leaves only Little and Lovelady as the only left-handed arms in the bullpen. On top of that, both Lovelady and Barnes didn’t necessarily have strong springs, with the former posting a gaudy 6.48 ERA in just 8 1/3 innings of work and the latter amassing a similar 6.75 ERA in 5 1/3 innings.

And although Lovelady didn't allow a run in his first action of the year, only 12 of his 21 pitches were strikes, and he also hit a batter.

Barnes wouldn’t fare much better, giving up two earned runs on one hit and one walk in just one inning of work. It wouldn’t be surprising if they're on short leases at the start of the season.

Smart decision: Letting the kids get their shot

The Jays spring training roster with filled with proven MLB players fighting for jobs However, when all was said and done, two promising rookies managed to secure roles on their Opening Day roster in outfielder Alan Roden and Will Wagner. 

Roden had a fantastic spring, posting a stellar .407 average along with two doubles, two home runs and six RBI. He even demonstrated great discipline at the plate with six walks and just four strikeouts in 37 plate appearances. Despite going against more experienced players, he earned a broke camp with the team and started in the first two games of the season for Toronto. He hasn’t disappointed when he's got on the field either, as he recorded his first MLB walk, hit and RBI and made a spectacular catch.

Wagner had a dazzling debut in 2024 after coming over in the Yusei Kikuchi trade with the Houston Astros and followed that up with a strong spring that helped the 26-year-old infielder earn a spot on Toronto's Opening Day roster.

Wagner as a part of Toronto's starting lineup in both of Toronto's first two games of the season and he responded by going 3-for-6 with one double and one run scored.

Going with two rookies to start in Jays’ redemption year seemed like a bold move, but it's paid off so far, as it rewards both players from their strong play and gives the Jays the opportunity to assess the their MLB future. With the uncertainty of Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. future looming over the franchise, it's crucial organization to figure out if they have some significant internal pieces that could help the team in the future.

Failure: Not having their main superstars signed to extensions heading into the regular season 

Both Guerrero and Bichette enter the season without contracts for next season. As two of the main faces of the franchise, it was vital for the Jays to have secured both stars prior to this year to avoid any distractions in-season so that the entire group can focus on winning. However, Toronto failed to reach a deal with either player, with Guerrero's personal deadline coming and going, and Bichette not having much news on his front.

Guerrero is coming off a strong 2024 campaign where he was the main leader in the Jays’ offensive attack, posting a stellar .323 batting average with 30 home runs and 103 RBI in 159 games. Bichette, on the other hand, had a season he would rather forget, putting up a dismal .225 average along with just four home runs and 31 RBI in an injury-plagued campaign. However, it looks like he put that in the rearview after he had a strong spend here he hit .373 with four home runs and nine RBI.

Not only are both player's the team’s modern version of José Bautista, Edwin Encarnacíon, Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter, but they're also the race of the team.

It is vital for the Jays to secure at least one, if not both, of the superstars in order to have sustainability and continuity of success going forward for the organization. Not having it settled going into the season will make things hard for the rest of the team to maintain their focus during the season. Hopefully, this massive fail by Jays’ management doesn’t inadvertently affect their long-term chances of competing for the postseason this year and the years beyond.