3 offseason decisions the 2026 Blue Jays are paying for in August

The Toronto Blue Jays are finally starting to look more like the team many expected them to be when the season began. Toronto is 12-7 in August (after Thursday's win over the Tampa Bay Rays) and on track for one of its few winning months of the season.

The Blue Jays are still close enough to make September interesting, but they can't pretend the first four months did not put them in a hole. A few extra wins here or there would not have turned Toronto into a runaway division leader, but it might have changed the current playoff race.

That is why these three offseason decisions stand out now right now. None of them single-handedly ruined the Blue Jays’ season, but each one has become harder to ignore when Toronto is trying to squeeze out every possible win.

Three offseason decisions may have put the Blue Jays in more of a bind than they anticipated

Betting on Jesús Sánchez as the outfield power fix

It is hard to blame the Blue Jays for taking a swing on Jesús Sánchez once it became clear Anthony Santander was not going to be available for much of the season. Toronto needed another left-handed bat with some thump, and when looking at Sánchez skill set, it felt like he could provide that. Even if he was only going to be in a platoon role and bat against righties.

The problem is that Sánchez has not provided enough offense to warrant the struggling defense. He's only hit eight home runs and has been worth 0.5 offensive fWAR, with a -10.8 defensive fWAR. That includes another rough night against the Rays on Wednesday in a game Toronto had a real chance to win, if not for a few miscues by the 28-year-old outfielder.

The trade itself has not been a disaster since Joey Loperfido, who went to Houston in the deal, has not exactly made the Blue Jays regret moving him. But the bigger question is whether Toronto could have used that trade chip differently if the front office had more aggressively searched for anyone that could be a competent slugger.

Underestimating what Bo Bichette still meant to the roster

For a while, it looked like the Blue Jays might have come out just fine with Bo Bichette exiting to Queens. His early days with the New York Mets weren't the smoothest transition and his move to third base was bumpy. Not to mention his bat was not immediately carrying the team and Mets fans were not exactly patient while he tried to settle in.

Then Bichette returned to Toronto with the Mets in July, and Blue Jays fans were treated to an emotional return. He was one of the defining players of this era, and the way he spoke about his teammates, the city and his time with the organization only reinforced how much connective tissue Toronto lost when he left.

He was a key part of building the clubhouse culture off the field, and on the field he allowed Toronto to have a ton of flexibility in the lineup. Last year’s run to the World Series worked in part because the Blue Jays had so much fluidity up the middle. Between Andrés Giménez, Bichette and Ernie Clement, the Blue Jays had multiple ways to cover shortstop, second base and third base.

The Blue Jays' plan in the offseason saw Giménez taking over at shortstop, Kazuma Okamoto was brought in to handle third base and the defensive structure of the infield was supposed to survive Bichette’s departure. Okamoto has been a terrific addition, but Toronto may have underestimated how valuable Bichette’s bat, experience and roster versatility still were. Bichette's been heating up ever since the beginning of June, with a .317/.355/.471 slash line and seven home runs in 66 games.

The Blue Jays reportedly stayed in touch with him through the offseason, but a formal contract never came together, and it is hard to fault Bichette for taking a three-year, $126-million deal with the Mets.

Not doing more to protect themselves from Jeff Hoffman risk

After Jeff Hoffman allowed the game-tying solo home run to Miguel Rojas in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series, the Blue Jays seemed to understand that the back end of the bullpen needed another look. Ross Atkins even acknowledged during the offseason that neither the club nor Hoffman was necessarily married to the idea of Hoffman remaining the closer in 2026.

That instinct turned out to be correct, just not in the way anyone wanted. Hoffman did not hold the closer’s role for long, losing it after an ugly April in which he allowed 11 runs, nine of them earned, over 12.2 innings. Louis Varland eventually stabilized the ninth inning, but the Blue Jays had already spent the first month chasing some wins that could have been bank rolled at this point.

Since that move (along with an early demotion that sent Brendon Little down), the bullpen has been mostly excellent. Varland has exceeded in the role, Tyler Rogers has been a strong addition and Rule 5 pick Spencer Miles has become a reliable piece.

But that is also what makes the offseason approach frustrating. If the Blue Jays were already unsure about Hoffman as a set-in-stone closer, they probably needed more than one proven MLB bullpen addition.

There were other options on the market, from Robert Suarez and Ryan Helsley to Devin Williams, Kenley Jansen and Kyle Finnegan. None of them would have guaranteed a perfect bullpen, and some have dealt with their own issues this season. But one more legitimate late-inning arm could have changed how the Blue Jays handled April, allowing them to mix and match earlier instead of waiting for the closer situation to force their hand.

Despite these issues, they have found a way to hang around. It's August, and Toronto is still playing meaningful games.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow