3 Blue Jays offseason decisions that already look genius

While this year's Blue Jays team is a solid roster comprised of good players, it likely looks a lot different than what the front office envisioned at the start of last offseason.

While the Blue Jays were able to add some key players to the roster, they also missed out on nearly every big name free agent they went after, which led to them going down some unlikely routes to add impact players to their roster.

And so far it's worked, as the Blue Jays are on pace to top their projected win total.

A big reason for that is strong play from some of those offseason acquisitions, as they've helped raise the team's ceiling. With that in mind, here are three offseason decisions that already look genius.

These three offseason decisions by the Blue Jays look genius

Trading for Andrés Giménez

When the Blue Jays traded for Giménez from the Guardians, it was a move done with the Blue Jays' defense in mind more than their offense. And while Giménez has still been a standout in the field, he's also made an impression at the batter's box.

He's already belted three home runs and stolen six bases, which has helped him have a wRC+ of 101. He also has a walk rate of 10% (which would be a career-high) and has scored 14 runs.

In total, he's been worth 0.4 fWAR, which a solid tally to have at this point in the season. His fWAR is usually carried by his defense, but right now, it's his offense keeping it up. His defense will continue to be great, but this offensive surge is a pleasant surprise and has helped this look like a really solid move.

Signing Jeff Hoffman

Hoffman has taken the Blue Jays' closer role by the horns and has helped turned things around for Toronto's bullpen.

The veteran right hander is off to a outstanding start, posting an ERA of 1.74 across 10 1/3 innings and has earned four saves. His K/9 is up to 12.2, along with a strong WHIP of 0.66 and an opposing batting average of just .171.

Toronto's bullpen has a disastrous year in 2024, so Hoffman being a steady presence in the ninth inning is exactly what this team needed. While there's always going to be some concern about his arm after the Orioles and Braves backed out of signing him due to injury concerns, he looked great in back-to-back appearances against those two clubs earlier this week.

Trading for Myles Straw

That's right: Straw's the second player on the list the Blue Jays acquired in an offseason trade with the Guardians. That said, this trade came with much less fanfare.

When the Blue Jays initially acquired Straw, the main part of the deal was the international pool space the team also acquired to help aid their failed pursuit of Roki Sasaki.

And the loss of Sasaki still stings, Straw's made it sting a little less.

After entering the season with a career OPS+ of 76, he's hitting .355 this season (11-for-31) with a home run, three RBI, an OPS of .986 and a wRC of 174.

While he's due for a bit of regression (his homer was his first since August 2023), his hot start has made Toronto trading for him look like a brilliant move.