3 strikes made by the Blue Jays at the trade deadline that could haunt them soon

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For the Toronto Blue Jays to become perennial playoff contenders, part of the strategy should involve utilizing the trade deadline as an invaluable opportunity to upgrade the ballclub in areas that they are deficient in, along with possibly strengthening areas they are strong to begin with already to make them a greater force to be reckoned with. As a result, it is an important message not only to the players, but also to the fanbase as well, letting them know that they are committed in producing a winning product both on and off the field, and to instil player confidence and motivation, leading to hopefully much success and valued accomplishments.

For the 2023 MLB trade deadline, the Jays had the opportunity to put a statement on their season by addressing some of their main needs to round out the ballclub for the stretch run. They did well in addressing their bullpen needs, as they acquired reliever Génesis Cabrera to add a second lefty to their bullpen, along with getting hard-throwing closer Jordan Hicks to solidify the back end of the bullpen, which came at a key time with current Jays’ closer Jordan Romano on the IL. With the solid additions, along with the inevitable activation of Chad Green off the IL and subsequently Trevor Richards and Romano later on as well, they appear to be all set with regards to their relief corps heading into the final two months of the season.

On top of that, they also managed to reel in Paul DeJong to serve as Bo Bichette’s replacement while he is out with his knee injury, and to serve as infield depth and a useful bat off the bench when Bichette returns.

However, the Blue Jays sure “swung and miss” big time with regards to other areas that needed to be addressed or that would have made quite the impact if their pursuit came to fruition. Here, we take a look at the three biggest failures in terms of what the Jays should have accomplished at the trade deadline that could possibly affect their ultimate playoff chances by the end of the season.

The Jays did not address their desperate need of a power bat to add to their lineup

Throughout the season, the Jays had been lacking a consistent, big bat that could help them produce runs at key moments in ballgames, leading to many frustrating blown opportunities, and ultimately some painful losses as a result of it. Hitting with runners in scoring position had also been the team’s Achilles heel for much of the 2023 season. What better way to take the team to the next level than by acquiring an impactful, power bat at the trade deadline to boost the team’s morale, along with their overall offensive output down the stretch.

There were definitely some available at the trade deadline, ranging from acceptable as in Tommy Pham of the New York Mets, to potentially a big difference maker in Lane Thomas of the Washington Nationals, all the way to a much highly anticipated reunion with former Blue Jay Teoscar Hernández of the Seattle Mariners. As a matter of fact, at one point in time, the Jays were believed to be the frontrunners for the services of Hernández, while Jays’ fans everywhere were holding their breath, waiting for the official announcement of his return home.

However, all that hype became major disappointment, as the deadline came and passed, leaving many of the Jays’ faithful dumbfounded that nothing ended up happening. That was a huge blown opportunity to not only provide much needed offensive help for the ballclub, but also a shot of confidence to Jays’ nation that they really mean business in getting it done this year. Unfortunately, that will now need to wait another year, as all their hopes now rests on the current core in that they can suddenly provide some offensive outburst in the coming weeks.

The Jays did not address their need to add starting pitching depth behind their current question marks in the rotation

With Alek Manoah just recently returning last month from his pitching mechanics rebuilding stint in the minors and Hyun Jin Ryu just coming off the IL after a year off due to Tommy John surgery, the question mark remains what do they have in both Manoah and Ryu as they head towards the stretch run. Are they going to revert to their Cy Young-like form as demonstrated earlier in their careers, or will they be floundering even more like they have been in recent times?

With that uncertainty heading into the trade deadline, it is certainly a no-brainer that the Jays should invest in some insurance on solid starting pitching depth, just to be sure that have everything covered. Value, solid pitchers such as Michael Lorenzen and Jordan Montgomery were readily available. However, once again, they stood pat on that front, while divisional rivals beefed up on their starting rotation, with the Baltimore Orioles getting Jack Flaherty and the Tampa Bay Rays getting Aaron Civale. And as expected as many probably saw it coming, Flaherty would join his new Orioles’ team and dominate the Jays in six strong innings on Thursday to help them to the victory for good measure.

The Jays are definitely taking a gamble that one of Manoah or Ryu will work out in the end, and they are counting on others such as Chris Bassitt and Yusei Kikuchi to not implode down the stretch at the same time. But had they just invested in a little depth, we would definitely be feeling a lot more comfortable now with the rotation, as opposed to our current ‘hope and see’ worries that we definitely have now.

The Jays did not go out to land a “big fish” to inspire the ballclub for a long postseason run

Finally, sometimes making a big splash at the trade deadline doesn’t necessary have to address a very specific need, but rather doing something that could suddenly boost a team’s confidence and motivation can be equally as important in helping a team to success heading into the stretch run. One could recall back in 2015, when former Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos did the unthinkable and somehow managed to acquire both big-time starter David Price and superstar shortstop Troy Tulowitzki at the trade deadline. At the time, the Jays were just chugging along close to a .500 record, but had a slight feeling that if they got some difference makers, it would be enough to put them over the top.

Sure enough, after the additions, fans flooded the stands to provide strong support to their revitalized ballclub, as the Jays surged to new heights in the final three months of the season and made the playoffs without a doubt in the end. So if the Jays could manage to land a ‘big fish’ this time around, perhaps a similar effect could be recreated once again, this time in 2023. However, while watching the Texas Rangers grab three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer, and the Houston Astros bringing back their very own three-time Cy Young winner in Justin Verlander and suddenly making them favourites to win it all in the AL side of things, the Jays once again failed to pull the trigger.

If they did even something that would have produced some kind of ‘wow’ factor, like bringing back Marcus Stroman to fire up the Jays’ crowd and ballclub in more ways than one, it could perhaps have given the team the big spark needed to get them going, along with making them truly believe in themselves that they can get the job done for the playoff run with the added jolt of confidence, but to no avail.

Hopefully, the semi-impactful additions the Jays made at the deadline were enough to at least make them contenders for the playoffs despite the ‘swing and misses’, but whether or not it is enough for them to get to the World Series will now most likely depend on the ‘will’ and ‘fight’ of the team as it is currently constructed.

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